Designing the rings for U.S. Olympic team members will do that.

"I didn't think [the design work] was that big of a deal until it all came together and I got to meet the athletes at team processing," said Saenz, referring to gatherings July 18 through Aug. 6 at San Jose State University. At the sessions, U.S. Olympians, coaches and team officials received their uniforms and out-of-competition apparel, went through team briefings and medical screenings, and were fitted for their commemorative rings. "Then I realized it was a BIG DEAL [her emphasis]."

A diminutive woman herself, Saenz towered over gymnast Shawn Johnson, whom she adored.

Saenz marveled at the massive finger of a shotputter who required a size 17 ring - giant, to be sure, but still not as big as former Olympic wrestler Rulon Gardner's size 18.

Saenz got a kick out of the excitement exhibited by volleyball player Heather Bown as she looked over her third Olympic ring, to go with the ones O.C. Tanner produced when she participated in the Sydney and Athens Games.

"I've been here 21 years as a designer," she said, developing hundreds of medallions and other recognition awards. "I never get to see the end reception and if they like it. To see the athletes look at the rings and hear their feedback, it was rewarding."

Corporately, too.

David Sturt, O.C. Tanner's executive vice president, said his company's decadelong involvement with the Olympic movement has been so rewarding that it doesn't even charge for the rings, this year numbering more than 900, for every athlete, coach and staff member on the U.S. Olympic team.

"It's a gift on behalf of the employees of O.C. Tanner," he said, adding quickly that because Olympians are representing their country, the rings can be viewed as an expression of thanks from the American public. "Being part of that is great for us."

This is the fifth Olympics (Sydney, Salt Lake City, Athens, Turin and Beijing) that O.C. Tanner designed and donated personalized rings for the U.S. team.

Saenz won an in-house competition for the right to design the 2008 ring. She did research on China on the Internet, sketched initial designs by hand, transferred it to her computer, secured USOC approval of the design and then handed it over to the molding crew.

"It went back quite a few times - for perfection," said Sandra Christensen, O.C. Tanner's marketing director, teasing Saenz about her insistence on getting things just right. "But there were a lot of elements that had to go into a little piece of jewelry, and it had to be wearable and comfortable."

Saenz's design contains a subtle but distinctly Chinese flavor, incorporating the curve commonly seen in house roofs and river-going junks into the framework around the Olympic rings. Athletes' names will be inscribed on the side, along with a pictogram of their sport. And athletes who win gold medals can have that accomplishment engraved into the top of the ring.

For Saenz, the reward comes each night as she watches television into the wee hours of the morning, occasionally spotting athletes she fitted for the ring she designed.

"It's exhilarating. They're high-achieving people."

mikeg@sltrib.com