Feb 19

U.S. Long Track Sprint Speedskating Team Has Frustrating, but Fruitful Weekend

February 19, 2008-Inzell, Germany-Cold and windy conditions left skaters frustrated while competing in the Essent ISU World Cup Speedskating event for Long Track in Inzell, Germany. Although many U.S. athletes faced their share of complications due to weather conditions at the outdoor rink, Shani Davis (Chicago, IL) once again brought home the gold medal in the Men's 1000m, setting a new track record of 1:09.65 on Sunday, Feb. 17. Tucker Fredricks (Janesville, WI ) finished in 7th place during the Men's 500m on both Saturday and Sunday, after battling difficult weather and track conditions."I felt he skated a strong race considering the circumstances,"said US Speedskating National Long Track Coach Ryan Shimabukuro."Tucker's very focused and staying positive, and seems to be building his confidence again." The U.S. ladies team struggled during the long distance event, but Elli Ochowicz ( Palo Alto, CA ) bounced back after three difficult races, finishing in 7th place in the Ladies 1000m with a time of 1:20.12-her best time since the 2004 season. Shimabukuro felt many team members didn't capitalize on great opportunities that could have resulted in better finishes."I'm really going to be more focused than ever this week in Heerenveen on getting the skaters sharpened up both technically and physically because small, stupid mistakes are costing the skaters dearly,"he said."There were some strong results to build off from, so that's encouraging." The Team travels this week to Heerenveen, Netherlands for the Essent ISU World Cup Speedskating Final for all distances, being held February 22-24. For additional information please contact Kori Novak, Director, PR , Media at 801-417-5360 or media@usspeedskating.org About US Speedskating: US Speedskating is a nonprofit organization recognized by the United States Olympic Committee as the national governing body for the sport of Speedskating in the United States. To date, US Speedskating has won a total of 75 Olympic medals, making it the most successful winter sport in the USA. ####