SARATOGA, Calif. -- Adjectives always seem to flow when one talks about elite athletes. But when it comes to U.S. Olympic hopeful Patricia Miranda from Saratoga there is just one word that sums up her entire career -- pioneer.

Miranda is -- and always has -- been a wrestler. She was the first female to wrestle on her middle school and high school teams in Saratoga. At Stanford, she was the only female member of the men's varsity team and was a starter during her senior season.

So how does she feel when it comes to qualifying for the first-ever women's Olympic wrestling competition?

"Growing up, thinking about being on an Olympic Team was not something I thought of," Miranda said during a recent teleconference. "It was not in the realm of possibility. I have had many painful moments thinking about this just recently."

"In college, all I wanted to do was beat a guy. Now, at the Olympic level, it is different. I feel pleased to have this opportunity. I'm trying to conclude a lifetime of waiting."

Earlier this month, Miranda was named the 2003 Women's Wrestler of the Year by USA Wrestling. It was just one of her many awards.

She won yet another national title last weekend and heads into the Olympic Trials set for Indianapolis on May 21-23 as the top-ranked competitor in the 48 kg/105.5 lbs weight class. She also won a silver medal at the 2003 World Championships of Freestyle Wrestling in New York.

At the worlds, Miranda dropped a 5-4 finals match to Irini Merlini of Ukraine, who captured her third World title. Miranda had a close match prior to the finals, a 3-1 win over Canadian star Lyndsay Belisle in the opening match.

She followed with technical fall wins over M. DelMar Peralta Osuna of Spain and Angelique Berthenet of France, then pinned Fani Psatha of Greece in the semifinals in 1:51.

But she also has a pair of fifth-place finishes this year at meets in Kiev and in Athens.

"It was about mental preparation for competition," she said of the setbacks. "I don't have anything to protect, no gold medal. The losses showed me holes. I slipped off a gut and lost."

"If you do that in the Olympics, you get pinned. I need to do that before the Olympics. I am a stronger competitor this year than last year because of it."

As the Games have grown closer, Miranda finds herself the focus of growing media attention. But she has yet to feel any pressure from the bright lights.

"I understand how it might feel like there is more pressure," she said. "It's like my personality. I don't think anybody can put more pressure on me than I do to myself. I don't feel a lot from the outside; most of it is from the inside."

But Miranda does admit that she is beginning to understand what it means to be a pioneer.

"I haven't thought about that (her impact on her sport's future) until I was interviewed by ESPN," she said. "The guy was obsessed with Mia Hamm, and if I would do for women's wrestling what she did for soccer."

"He must have asked me a dozen times. I would hope that my actions would enhance the sport. But, I've got to do it by example. I have to work as hard as I can to try to help myself win the gold medal. I don't focus on it, for sure. Some of the outcomes I can't control."