Jan 30

Olympic Champion Hedrick Returns to Podium - Claims World Cup Silver

Hamar, Norway, January 27, 2008 - America's Chad Hedrick, Olympic gold, silver and bronze medalist, has spent some time in the shadows over that last year, conspicuously absent from his previously familiar position on the medals podium of speedskating's international World Cup circuit. That all changed yesterday as the big Texan took the silver medal in the grueling 10,000m event in 13:11.20, just 1.59 seconds behind Norwegian winner Harvard Bokko. An errant cross-over exchange with Dutchman Bob de Jong late in the race appeared that it may cost Hedrick a podium appearance but he recovered, rallied back and narrowly missed the gold medal. "If not for the crossover with Bob (de Jong) I know I could have won this race. I'm not sure what happened there but it just goes to show that anything can happen in a race. You never know. You've just got to skate hard through the (finish) line and let the official sort out the rest. I'm really happy with the silver. We've worked harder than ever before this year and now it's starting to pay off." In late summer, Hedrick and the US Speedskating team transitioned to a new coach, Belgium's Bart Veldkamp. Born in The Netherlands, Veldkamp is a multiple Olympic medalist who, like Hedrick, seemed to grow stronger the longer the race distance. Some questioned the pairing of Hedrick and Veldkamp early in the season, as Hedrick uncharacteristically failed to win medals in the first half of the year. "Last summer Bart convinced me to try his training program and we began to make a lot of technical changes to my skating. It was really taking a step back, in hopes of taking two steps forward. It was particularly hard earlier in the season. I guess I'm used to winning so when I didn't it was a struggle to stick with it. But the goal all along was to be in peak shape at the end of the season, when it matters most. To skate like this today is a big weight off my shoulders and it confirms that all the hard work we put in earlier this year is all coming together now. I just raced 10,000 meters and I feel great. I'm ready to go again!" Hedrick and the rest of the World Cup circuit will move on to Baselga di Pine, Italy for a middle distance competition on beginning February 2.