US Speedskating returns home to budget crunch

RICHMOND, British Columbia (AP) The medals have been awarded and the skaters are headed home to begin training for another four-year Olympic cycle. What they'll find is that the financial woes of US speedskating haven't changed - and they could get worse.

The U.S. speedskating team won 10 medals - six in short track and four in long track - but its funding is on shaky ground heading into the rest of the season.

"I don't know what our budget is next year," U.S. national all-around coach Derek Parra said Saturday, the final day of competition. "We don't have any sponsors next year. It's going to be tight."

Thanks to the help of Stephen Colbert's fans, who donated more than $300,000 to the program after its main sponsor went bankrupt, the U.S. speedskaters were able to make it to the games. But that support, and Colbert's promotion of the team on his Comedy Central show, has likely ended. A sponsorship deal with Verizon was due to run out after the games, too.

"Stephen Colbert and the Colbert Nation came in and bailed us out," Parra said. "They were our knight in shining armor."

US Speedskating faced a financial crisis in October when its biggest cash sponsor, Dutch bank DSB, declared bankruptcy, creating the six-figure deficit.

Parra isn't sure what his future holds, either. He's working on a one-year contract, which he hopes will continue through the season.

"If we have no budget, we can't have a coach," he said. "It's up to the organization to come through and decide."

US Speedskating is planning to suspend its athlete stipends at the end of March, giving the organization a chance to reassess finances and decide how much it could afford to dole out at the start of the new fiscal year in June.

The push for new sponsors is on, but it's difficult given the unstable U.S. economy.

The organization's board of directors meet at the end of April. Before then, Parra and the other coaches plan to assess what they and the athletes need to be successful for the next four years.

However, any requests have to be approved by the board and funding has to be found.

"If we don't have any funding, we can't really do anything," Parra said. "You can't go to the grocery store with a list if you don't have any money in your pocket."

US Speedskating executive director Bob Crowley didn't immediately respond to a request for comment through a spokeswoman.

Success hasn't equaled more money despite speedskating being the most successful of all the sports competed in by the United States at the Winter Olympics.

In all, Americans have claimed 85 medals - 33 of them gold - on the traditional long track oval and the unpredictable short track rink.

In Vancouver, the men's team accounted for all four of the long track medals won, with the women getting shut out. The short track team earned six medals, none gold. The 10 medals fell two short of US Speedskating's goal.

Unlike in the Netherlands - where speedskating is revered and its orange-clad fans flock to the Olympics - the sport is an every-four-years deal in the United States. Dutch star Sven Kramer makes a healthy living while training and competing compared to many American skaters who eke out a living on training stipends.

"We're struggling just to get to the games and hopefully try to win a medal," said Parra, a 2002 gold medalist who became U.S. all-around coach in September.

"We have a very small amount of skaters, and when they can come and do things like this at the games at a high level, it's pretty impressive."

The Vancouver Games marked the end of an era in American skating, with some of the bigger names likely retiring.

Five-time medalist Chad Hedrick is calling it quits, and two-time medalist Jennifer Rodriguez seems unlikely to continue. Shani Davis, winner of a gold and silver in Vancouver, has said he wants to compete at the 2014 Sochi Games.

On the short track side, eight-time medalist Apolo Anton Ohno is planning a long break, although he hasn't ruled out returning for a fourth Olympics. His heir apparent, J.R. Celski, may focus on college, having been accepted to California-Berkeley. Katherine Reutter, who won two medals in her first Olympics, figures to stick around although she's old enough to be in college.

Hedrick earned his last medal Saturday, anchoring 19-year-old teammates Jonathan Kuck, Brian Hansen and Trevor Marsicano to a silver in the team pursuit.

"This is the future of American speedskating right here," he said. "These guys are going to take over as I go away."

Those three train with private coaches in Milwaukee, away from the U.S. national team in Salt Lake City, where the short track team is based, too.

A lack of Olympic credentials for private coaches created tension before and during the games.

"There was a lot of confrontation before we got here, but the guys really pulled together," Parra said. "I think that's why I was brought into this job, to bring these coaches together, because there was a little bit of abrasiveness with the previous coach."

Parra is the latest in a trio of all-around coaches that US Speedskating has gone through in three years, lending instability to the long track program.

"I'd love to come back, it just depends on what the organization is going to do," he said. "We just have no clue at this point."

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