Men’s 1000 Meter Speed Skating
On February 16th, we set out for the Utah Olympic Oval in Kearns to watch the Men’s 1000 meter Speed Skating Finals. The ride there was a little arduous, but we made it to the arena on time.
We had been in a state of high anticipation over this event for two reasons. First, the seats we had were the best of any event we were going to attend. We were on one of the rink’s corners, just three rows from the ice. Second, the Oval had already earned a reputation for having “fast ice.” Several world records had already been set in this arena, despite the fact that it had been open only for little more than a year. Given the added incentive of the Olympic gold, the existing records in this distance were sure to fall.
Our expectation for fast racing was met very early. The first pair of skaters, ostensibly the slowest of the group, both shattered the old Olympic record with their runs. Their efforts didn’t last for long, because the next pair of skaters beat the times of the first pair. At this point, we knew we were in for an exciting event.
Eventually, the new Olympic records with each skate ceased and the skaters started performing at more equivalent levels. Just when we thought that things would become predictable, Gerard VanVelde of the Netherlands turned in a performance that surpassed anything that we had seen previously. We knew that he was fast, but we were surprised to see that he had beaten the previous world’s record by about .45 seconds. The large Dutch contingent in the arena erupted in cheers when the time was flashed on the screen.
At this point, we expected VanVelde’s new world record to fall like the many new Olympic records which had been set that day. After all, there were still 14 more skaters to go after VanVelde; all of which were expected to do better than he had done. However, these expectations never materialized. The best American hope, Casey FitzRandolph (gold medal winner in the Men’s 500 Meter race) was ahead of VanVelde’s time at the halfway mark of the race, but ran out of gas down the stretch and ended up in 7th. Kip Carpenter, the former American record holder, finished fourth. Finally, VanVelde’s teammate, Jan Bos, finished .35 behind.
It came down to Jeremy Wotherspoon, the (now former) world record holder in this event, to reestablish himself as the best 1000 meter skater in the world. But, like the others, Wotherspoon fell short. He looked great for the first 600 meters. Then, after getting the signal from his coaches that he was still a bit behind VanVelde’s time, Wotherspoon slowed down during the final half of the last lap. He ended up in 13th place.
As VanVelde took his victory lap, I observed the wonderful aspect of the Olympics that I remembered from Atlanta. There were fans from a variety of countries in the stands. Yet, regardless of nationality, everyone was cheering for VanVelde out of admiration for his tremendous effort. In fact, the fans cheered for each skater when they skated (although they cheered a little louder for someone from their country). The idea that nationalism is set aside in a spirit of appreciation and camaraderie is the highest ideal, and most enjoyable part, of the Olympics.
In the end, 31 of the 44 skaters broke the old Olympic record. The top three skaters broke the old world record. The Olympic Oval lived up to its reputation. The fans lived up to the Olympic ideal. And we knew that we were definitely at the Olympics.
Final Results:
Gerard VanVelde (Netherlands) – Gold
Jan Bos (Netherlands)– Silver
Joey Cheek (United States) - Bronze
Pictures (from top left):
- Dutch and Canadian skaters race. (ML)
- Casey FitzRandolph and Jan Bos race. (ML)
- Jeremy Wotherspoon goes into the turn. (ML)
- Gerard VanVelde takes his victory lap. (DL)
- Dianne and me at the Olympic Oval. (DL)
2002 Olympic Trip Home Page
This page hosted by
Get your own Free Home Page