|
|||||||
|
|
|
|||||
|
|
|||||||
NAGANO, Japan -- A bronze medal never looked so good to the United States.
Chris Witty finally put the Americans on the speed skating podium Monday with her third-place finish in the women's 1,500 meters. It was the 48th speed skating medal in American history, more than any other sport ... but it was the first in seven races in Nagano.
 | |
| Witty made sure the U.S. wouldn't get shut out. |
Until Witty's performance, the Americans were experiencing an M-Wave-sized drought in Nagano. Their best finish had come from Florida native Jennifer Rodriguez, a former inline skater who was a surprising fourth in the women's 3,000 meters.
"We know we don't have too many medal contenders on this team -- yet," said Gerard Kemkers, the U.S. all-around coach.
"Make sure that's a big, bold YET. This team is going to grow. This team is young."
Speedskating, which attracts minuscule attention in America except for two weeks every four years, is one of those sports that must produce Olympic medals or face the consequences. So when dozens of reporters crowded around Casey FitzRandolph and KC Boutiette after the men's 1,000 Sunday, they hurled question after question with one basic theme:
What's wrong with you guys?
Could you blame the boys for getting defensive?
"I'm doing the best I can and that's all we can ask as Americans," said Boutiette, who hasn't placed higher than fifth. "For the amount of skaters we have in the U.S., I think we're going pretty damn well."
The rest of the world snickers at the Americans, accusing them of being whiners who failed to adapt in a rapidly changing world. The Americans say they don't want to make excuses, but the clap skate enters a lot of conversations pretty early.
"We're not looking for sympathy," said Casey FitzRandolph, who a year ago was one of the top 1,000-meter skaters in the world, but Sunday finished in seventh place in the Winter Olympics. "We're just asking the public to understand why we didn't medal ... why we missed the mark. We don't want the public to think we failed as a team."
FitzRandolph and his teammates lamented the development of the clap skate, which the Dutch had first and which the Dutch know how to use. He said he's still learning on the new skates, and that has hurt his results.
"I don't feel the clap skates were the best thing for me," he said.
But they were for the Dutch.
"I don't think it's any coincidence that the clap skate was passed on such short notice and the Dutch are skating so well compared to everybody else," he said.
Sunday in the M-Wave, two more Dutch skaters took the top two spots in the 1,000-meter race. Ids Postma added the 1,000-meter gold to the 1,500-silver he had already won by skating an Olympic record time of 1:10.64.
Jan Bos broke the Olympic record as well, set at Lillehammer in 1994 by Dan Jansen of the United States (1:12.43). But Bos' 1:10.71 was only good enough for silver.
Japanese hero Hiroyasu Shimizu also broke the Olympic mark and finished third with a time of 1:11.00. He won the 500 last week.
FitzRandolph was seventh (1:11.64) and Boutiette eighth (1:11.75). Cory Carpenter finished 29th.
 | |
| FitzRandolph admits he has yet to get the hang of the clap skates. |
That makes six events and 18 speedskating medals. None went to U.S. skaters.
FitzRandolph said he had no doubt that he or one of his teammates would have medaled without the clap skates, that as a group they went in thinking this was the best speed skating team since 1988.
But it also was a team that was "behind the eight ball" as far as the clap skates were concerned, FitzRandolph said.
"I didn't get my skates until January 1, give or take a week," FitzRandolph said. "It caught us with our hands tied."
FitzRandolph would not say that the U.S. skaters were cheated, though.
"We had just as much a chance on the skates as Canada, and they're doing well on them," he said. "Were we cheated? No. But other countries have had an advantage."
Boutiette and FitzRandolph both insisted that these Olympics are a speed skating stepping stone to 2002, when the Games return home to Salt Lake City. And consider that most of the top American skaters are 23 and under. "This is almost like a prep program for us before we get to Salt Lake," Boutiette said, looking ahead to what it might be like to skate with the home-country advantage.
"They're going to be yelling, `U.S.A! U.S.A!' That kind of stuff gets you going. I think I need that kind of pressure to come down on me before I perform well."
Kemkers notes that the United States had at least one top-10 skater in six of the first seven races, including three events where two skaters cracked single digits on the standings sheet. Compare that with 1994, he said, when the best finish outside of Blair and Jansen was David Cruikshank's 19th in the 500.
"Everybody in America has to realize that we need a few years to build," Kemkers said. "We can't be even a little bit disappointed with how this has shaken out with all the people we have in contention."
Still, FitzRandolph and his teammates can't help but be a little troubled when those skaters from other countries keep stepping onto the podium, watching proudly while their flags are hoisted to the roof at M-Wave.
"What else can you do in a foreign country with no English TV or newspaper?" FitzRandolph said. "We hash over it every day. We're trying to come up with some answers."
Witty finally provided a reason to celebrate.