Jennifer Rodriguez hates the 5,000 meters. She’s in the 5,000. Racing the 3,000 meters makes her sicker than riding over bumps in a car. She’s in the 3,000.
After going ’round and ’round on the 400-meter speedskating oval, she upchucks. She can’t help it. She does not really enjoy being a distance skater. A tolerance point must kick in and overwhelm her tummy after 1,500 meters. Eight of 10 times she races the longer distances, she comes out of it feeling as if she had spent too long at a fraternity party.
“So don’t have the cameras on me,” Rodriguez said.
She can’t help that either. There is every chance TV cameras will be on Rodriguez during the Salt Lake City Olympics. This season, with five medals in World Cup competition and with veteran Chris Witty coping with illness, Rodriguez has emerged as the top U.S. women’s medal threat in long-track speedskating.
Rodriguez may sound as if she is bucking for a motion-sickness endorsement, but Bart Schouten, the U.S. all-around coach, said she wouldn’t mind getting sick if she wins a medal in a long-distance race.
Assuming the role of top American female contender is a fairly unlikely position for someone whose only connection to ice while growing up in Miami was appreciating its cooling properties in soda pop.
Rodriguez, 25, has blond hair and a wide grin. She must stand upright on skate blades to top 5 feet 5 inches, and she is no heavyweight at 128 pounds. She was once a world-champion inline roller skater who became a speedskater at the urging of fiance KC Boutiette, who is on his third Olympic team.
Rodriguez, who is scheduled to marry Boutiette on April 13, must be one of the unlikeliest American Winter Olympians ever. Not only is she from South Florida, she is the daughter of a Cuban-born father as well. In 1998, in Nagano, Japan, Rodriguez became the U.S.’ first Hispanic Winter Olympics athlete. Four years ago she was newsworthy because of who she was and where she was from, not for what she might do.
No longer. Rodriguez qualified for the U.S. team at 500, 1,000, 1,500, 3,000 and 5,000 meters. She will not compete in the 500 because she believes her best chance for a medal is in the middle distances.
Four years ago, reporters wanted to interview Boutiette and barely acknowledged her. Now she is the half of the couple with the better medal chances.
“Before, I was trying not to embarrass myself,” Rodriguez said. “Now I have some expectations.”
So does the U.S. team. There is no Eric Heiden poised to seize five gold medals. But more athletes have a chance to win one.
“It’s a better team than four years ago,” Schouten said. “It’s broader. There are six or more people in place who can medal. It’s the most we’ve ever had.”
The big if on the women’s team is the health of Witty, 26, who in 1998 won a silver in the 1,000 and a bronze in the 1,500. Witty, of West Allis, Wis., moved near the Utah Olympic Oval in 1999, grew accustomed to the mountains and says she plans to stay beyond the Games.
But last month Witty was diagnosed with mononucleosis. She was ordered to rest, and it’s unknown what her racing status will be.
“It’s really unfortunate,” Schouten said. “It’s not a good situation.”
More optimistic about their chances are Amy Sannes, 25, of St. Paul, Minn., who had a good showing in the recent world sprint championships, and Becky Sundstrom, 25, of Glen Ellyn, who at the December trials in Kearns, Utah, qualified for the team in the 500, 1,000 and 1,500.
Sundstrom placed sixth in the 1,000 in the 1998 Olympics.
It is commonly believed that American and world records are in jeopardy. The enclosed Olympic Oval, which resembles a high-class airplane hangar and is at a thin-air elevation of 4,331 feet, is very conducive to fast times.
“I’m a firm believer the whole record book will be rewritten in February,” said Casey FitzRandolph, the U.S. men’s leading hope for medals in the 500 and 1,000. “I seriously think every world record is going to go. They have the potential to make the fastest ice in the world.”
FitzRandolph, 27, shone at the recent world sprint speedskating championships in Hamar, Norway, placing second in the 500, third in the 1,000 and second in the overall standings. Teammates Joey Cheek, 22, of Greensboro, N.C., who had an outstanding U.S. trials in December, and Kip Carpenter, 22, of Brookfield, Wis., who had an emotional but successful trials, tied for seventh in the overall point listings.
Although he is from Verona, Wis., and said he would like to try out as a kicker for the Green Bay Packers after retiring from skating, FitzRandolph chose to train for the Games outside the country. FitzRandolph took the unusual path of training in Calgary with Canada’s world-class duo, Jeremy Wotherspoon and Michael Ireland.
FitzRandolph, who pre-qualified based on results, skipped the December U.S. trials. In his absence Cheek swept the 500 and 1,000 with swift times, gaining confidence.
“I surprised myself,” Cheek said. “I believe I’ve got more in me.”
Carpenter, whose brother Cory was a 1998 Olympian, teared up after making the team. He praised his parents–Paul, once a Chicago skater who cried when his younger son made the team, and Sally–for their sacrifices. Carpenter wears his brown hair so it sticks in the air above a headband and has small pins that he calls “conscience piercings” in his ears. He has had the piercings for a year and a half and said he obtained them while “completely sober.” The look intimidates opponents, he believes.
“They think I’m kind of wild,” Carpenter said.
When he was a kid just starting in the sport, Carpenter said his father used to pay him $1 incentives for high placings. Carpenter papered the door of his room with some of the bills and saved the extras in a box.
“I’ll never spend them,” he said.
Family has very much been in the thoughts of Derek Parra, whose best medal hope is the 1,500.
“He’s looking really good,” Schouten said of the skater whose new baby pictures are being flashed around the oval.
Parra, 31, also was, like Rodriguez, a championship inline skater. He trained for the Games at altitude in Utah while his wife Tiffany stayed in Orlando.
Parra pre-qualified for the 1,500 but wanted a spot in the 1,000 too. However, Tiffany’s due date for the couple’s first child was Dec. 21, the middle of the trials, and Parra wanted to be present for the birth. Parra flew to Florida, labor was induced early, daughter Mia Elizabeth was born and Parra flew back to Utah. He raced sluggishly and failed to make the team in the 1,000 (though later in January earned a place in the 5,000), but had no regrets.
“It’s not optimal training for the Olympic trials,” Parra said of his frequent flying.
“But I’m so glad I went. It was such a great experience to see her born. [Not returning for the birth] would have been a lot more stressful.”
