Speed Skating

TURIN, Italy -- Jennifer Rodriguez's vision was blurry. Her knees buckled. The last two meters were horrible. It was great. "I'm proud of myself," she said after placing eighth in the women's 1,500-meter speed skating event last night. "You know what, this possibly could be my last race. I told myself `Just go out there and enjoy it. There's no pressure on you because you know you're not at the top of your game.' You just want to go out and skate your best. And that's what I did." Canada's Cindy Klassen (1 minute, 55.27 seconds)

Results recap Medals table Nation G S B Tot Germany 11 12 6 29 United States 9 9 7 25 Canada 7 10 7 24 Austria 9 7 7 23 Russia 8 6 8 22 Norway 2 8 9 19 Sweden 7 2 5 14 Switzerland 5 4 5 14 South Korea 6 3 2 11 Italy 5 0 6 11 China 2 4 5 11 France 3 2 4 9 Netherlands 3 2 4 9 Finland 0 6 3 9 Czech Republic 1 2 1 4 Estonia 3 0 0 3 Croatia 1 2 0 3 Australia 1 0 1 2 Poland 0 1 1 2 Ukraine 0 0 2 2 Japan 1 0 0 1 Belarus 0 1 0 1 Britain...

NAGANO, Japan -- She remembered being 12 years old and her father losing his job as a factory welder. She remembered the family counting every penny -- for years -- while they lived on her mother's small salary filing claims for an insurance company.She remembered nearly having to stop speed skating, the sport she loved so much, simply because her parents couldn't afford it.And she remembered persevering through the years, pushing herself to make the family's sacrifice a worthwhile investment.

TURIN, Italy -- It was not the sort of moment Chad Hedrick would have considered worth applauding two weeks ago. But with the residual ache from competing in five grueling events over 14 days, he could finally appreciate his accomplishment. Though falling short of the advertised goal of matching Eric Heiden's 1980 achievement of five gold medals, Hedrick became just the third American in Winter Olympic history to win three medals in a single Games yesterday, finishing behind gold medallist Bob de Jong of the Netherlands in the 10,000 meters.

Pikesville resident Zack Goldberg, an eighth-grader at Gilman, won his second North American speed skating title last weekend in Regina, Saskatchewan. The 5-foot-6, 120-pound Goldberg, 14, emerged victorious against 25 13- and 14-year-old competitors from the United States and Canada. Goldberg, who was featured in the February 1999 edition of Sports Illustrated for Kids for winning the 1998 North American crown, will go after his third national title in Philadelphia this weekend. Goldberg trains in his craft five days weekly, rising for 6 a.m. workouts at either the Northwest ice rink in Mount Washington or the Gardens Ice House in Laurel.

J.P. Shilling of Baltimore, a member of the U.S. Olympic team, was one of four U.S. skaters to qualify for the World Allround Speed Skating Championships to be held this weekend in Heerenveen, Netherlands. Last weekend, Shilling skated races of 500, 1,500, 5,000 and 10,000 meters as part of the Continental Cup competition in St. Foy, Quebec, and finished fourth overall with a cumulative 170.027 points. The Continental Cup is the North American regional qualifying event for the world championships.

How close is one-hundredth of a second? "It's so close it's not even funny," said speed skater J.P. Shilling, who can laugh about it now. That blink of an eye, that whisker, that almost-photo-finish measurement of time is what put Shilling on the U.S. Olympic team Wednesday night. The Baltimore native edged K.C. Boutiette in the 1,500-meter event during the U.S. Long Track Olympic Trials in Kearns, Utah. "In speed skating, I don't know how you would measure that amount of time with your hands, the difference between K.C. and me. Is it even a centimeter?"

TURIN, Italy -- If there is bad blood between American speed skaters Chad Hedrick and Shani Davis, neither is saying much about it. The reserved Davis has been complimentary toward his teammate, and Hedrick, the abrupt Texan, has said, "I don't have any problem with Shani." Still, their much-anticipated showdown in the 1,000 meters tonight has all the earmarks of a grudge match. The race will feature a bevy of talented skaters - including Jan Bos of the Netherlands and Americans Joey Cheek and Casey FitzRandolph - any of whom could take gold.

TURIN, Italy -- Contrary to its spelling, there is no "I" in team pursuit. Just ask members of the U.S. speed skating team, who like each other about as much as onetime New York Yankees Thurman Munson and Reggie Jackson. Speed skating Chs. 11, 4, today, 4-5 p.m. and tomorrow, 12:05-1:30 a.m.

TURIN, Italy -- Chad Hedrick's quest for five gold medals came to a screeching stop yesterday when the U.S. men's speed skating team was eliminated in the quarterfinals of team pursuit, a new and quirky Olympic event, by an Italian squad spurred on by an enthusiastic home crowd. Skating without Shani Davis, the world-record holder in the 1,000 meters, the U.S. turned to Hedrick, Charles Ryan Leveille and KC Boutiette. After faltering in Saturday's 5,000-meter race, Davis had said he would skip the team pursuit.

Speed skating CHAD HEDRICK TV: NBC, 8 p.m.-midnight -- Chad Hedrick, who came to Turin with a chance to become the first man in speed skating to win five gold medals in a single Olympics since Eric Heiden, is still trying to pick up his second. He certainly shouldn't be disappointed if he leaves with only two. Expectations, the media's and his own, were unrealistic considering how he'd skated here. He won his first event, the 5,000 meters, but he never really had much of a chance in the 1,000.

American skeleton racer Kevin Ellis broke a vertebra in his back yesterday while competing against members of the U.S. luge team in a made-for-TV, non-Olympic sledding event. Ellis was being transported to a hospital in Turin for further evaluation and treatment, said U.S. Olympic Committee spokesman Darryl Seibel. There was no immediate word on Ellis' condition, but the first-time Olympian did have movement in his extremities, Seibel said. "There is no paralysis," Seibel said. Attempts to reach other members of the U.S. skeleton team by phone and e-mail were not immediately successful.

TURIN, Italy -- Jennifer Rodriguez's vision was blurry. Her knees buckled. The last two meters were horrible. It was great. "I'm proud of myself," she said after placing eighth in the women's 1,500-meter speed skating event last night. "You know what, this possibly could be my last race. I told myself `Just go out there and enjoy it. There's no pressure on you because you know you're not at the top of your game.' You just want to go out and skate your best. And that's what I did." Canada's Cindy Klassen (1 minute, 55.27 seconds)

TURIN, Italy -- Chad and Shani now join Nancy and Tonya among the most contentious soulmates in Olympic history. Speed skating was just a warm-up for a better story line at the Olympic Oval last night when Chad Hedrick and Shani Davis continued their snippy crossfire that has become the most entertaining reality series of these Olympics. Italy's Enrico Fabris won the 1,500-meter race, a fact that became inconsequential to the U.S. media beyond one factor: Davis (silver medal) and Hedrick (bronze)

TURIN, Italy -- Her legs began to tighten on the second lap. That's really when it ended. That's when Jennifer Rodriguez knew it wouldn't be her day and probably her Olympics. That's how it goes in the sport of speed skating. All those years, all that sacrifice, all the hours spent training on the ice, and it came to something as simple as her legs sending the wrong signal early yesterday evening. Rodriguez had skated a slow first lap in the 1,000-meter race, the clock on the ice underlining what her mind was telling her. But she figured another gear was there to be found on the second lap. Instead, her legs were tightening.

TURIN, Italy -- The overhang above the main stage at Piazza Castello shielded Shani Davis from a blinding snowstorm as he accepted his gold medal last night. But it couldn't save him from the blizzard of controversy that continues to engulf the Chicago-born speed skater. Hours after Davis had won the 1,000 meters Saturday night, the American viewing public was treated to a tape of a churlish Davis in his first interview with NBC. Davis also turned down the standard studio interview with host Bob Costas as well as the usual medalist rounds, including the Today Show.

TURIN, Italy -- Spontaneously, passionately, insistently came the chants last night from the crowd at the Lingotto Oval, an urgent plea for gold that roared around the arena: "I-tal-ia! I-tal-ia!" The Italian men's speed skating team did not disappoint. Carried along on a wave of sound, the Italian men sailed to a victory in the team pursuit, a victory both unexpected and unexpectedly easy. Italy, led by Enrico Fabris, a bronze medalist in the 5,000 meters earlier in these Games, defeated Canada by almost three seconds in the three-man, 3,200-meter event, which made its Olympic debut.

KEARNS, Utah - For American speed skater Derek Parra, there's only one way to focus before a big race. There's only one way he can calm his nerves, channel his energy and prepare himself to take on the world in the 5,000 meters, one of the events that kick off the Winter Olympics today. Fig Newtons. Parra gorges himself on an entire pack every night before a big race, a superstition he says gives him "tunnel vision." But when you consider the Americans are big underdogs in long-track speed skating, with the top medals expected to go to dominant Dutch and German skaters, Parra's strategy may be as good as any. This much is certain: Speed will be in abundance, regardless of uniform color.

TURIN, Italy -- Even as a child on Chicago's South Side, Shani Davis told friends he wanted to win speed skating's 1,000 meters at the Winter Olympics. He doesn't remember the reason he chose that event, but he must have had some sense of destiny because he won the race yesterday at the Oval Lingotto, becoming the first black athlete to win an individual gold medal at the Winter Games. American Vonetta Flowers was the first black athlete to win a gold medal in the Winter Olympics with her victory in the bobsled four years ago in Salt Lake City, and Canadian hockey player Jarome Iginla later in those same Games became the first black man to win a winter gold medal.