Casey FitzRandolph’s head was going around faster than he circled the Utah Olympic Oval on skate blades.
Tuesday afternoon, an hour after he had won the gold medal in the men’s 500 meters, FitzRandolph, 27, of Verona, Wis., was sorting through a pile of thoughts and emotions.
He recalled his speedskating beginnings in 1980 after his hero, Eric Heiden, won five golds in Lake Placid, N.Y. He thought of his disappointments in 1998 in Nagano, Japan. He reviewed his risky strategy of moving to Calgary to train with top Canadian racers three years ago. He thought of all the help and support friends and family had given him for years and during his race.
“To do it here, in America, before family, friends and so many well-wishers I don’t even know, in these times, it makes it perfect,” FitzRandolph said. “I couldn’t have written a better script.”
A script complete with memorable dialogue: At ice level Tuesday, Heiden shouted to him, “Way to go, man!”
FitzRandolph endured an uneasy night sitting in first place after a first-day win in the two-part event. Then he held off reigning Olympic champ Hiroyasu Shimizu of Japan, who took silver, and American Kip Carpenter, 22, of Brookfield, Wis., the bronze winner. With a winning time of 69.23 seconds, FitzRandolph covered the distance in 34.42 Monday and 34.81 Tuesday.
This is only the second American men’s gold medal in long-track speedskating since Heiden’s feat; Dan Jansen won the 1,000 in 1994. And it’s the first time since 1952 that two U.S. men have won medals in the same speedskating event.
“I’m not actually that surprised,” Carpenter said of his performance. “I’ve been waiting for this my entire life. This has been an everyday effort.”
This is billed as the fastest ice in the world, but Shimizu, 27, who has had an injured lower back since October, retained his world record of 34.32 set on the oval in March 2001.
Not that FitzRandolph cared. He was more focused on steadying his nerves. He and Carpenter shared quarters Monday night and tried to relax by watching TV hunting shows–FitzRandolph’s thing, not Carpenter’s.
FitzRandolph was one of the favorites. Carpenter, however, whose father Paul skated years ago in Chicago and introduced him to the sport, was a medal long shot. Third after the first round, he said he slept only three hours. Carpenter cultivates the image of a rebel. He often wears his hair standing up and wild and has “conscience piercings”–short, sharp, mini-spears in his ears.
FitzRandolph and Carpenter were paired Tuesday, the 19th and last grouping in the 38-man field. FitzRandolph said he wanted a fast start and to skate perfectly. Carpenter said he was sure this was his moment to shine. They talked about what they wanted to do.
“We worked together,” Carpenter said. “Either I’m going to drag him to the gold or he’s going to drag me to the bronze.”
Maybe it was a little bit of both because FitzRandolph didn’t get the swift start he sought and recorded only the sixth-fastest time of the day. Still his total time bested Shimizu by three-hundredths of a second and Carpenter by 0.24.
But FitzRandolph had one other thing on his mind: Jeremy Wotherspoon of Canada. Wotherspoon was seen as an almost certain medal winner, perhaps the gold-medal winner. He is one of FitzRandolph’s best friends and helped him train these last few years. But Wotherspoon fell on the first day, eliminating himself from contention. Tuesday, he raced–and recorded the day’s best time of 34.63.
FitzRandolph said he felt bad for Wotherspoon and indicated that Canada deserves to count half of his medal in the country standings. Mike Ireland, who placed seventh, was another training partner.
“I will always be eternally thankful,” FitzRandolph said. “Those guys are amazing.”
When FitzRandolph and Carpenter finished, the noise from the crowd of 4,869 was deafening. FitzRandolph said he was confused. Were fans cheering for a gold? Two American medals? The times went up on the board and he knew.
While FitzRandolph had a miserable Nagano Olympics, finishing sixth, seventh and 31st in his events, Shimizu was crowned king and held on to the throne until Tuesday. He said he is not in top form and had taken painkilling shots the last few days, but still hoped to do better.
“I was able to come this far,” Shimizo said. “But defeat is still defeat. It is not victory.”
FitzRandolph, who said he once kicked a 60-yard field goal in high school practice and whose fantasy is to become the Green Bay Packers’ placekicker, knows the difference. After the results were announced, he skated a victory lap around the 400-meter oval holding an American flag, then shared another lap with Carpenter.
His fiance, Jennifer Bocher, whom he is scheduled to marry July 20 in Wisconsin, leaned over the boards and hugged and kissed him.
“What a four years it has been,” she said, wiping tears from her eyes.
FitzRandolph kept talking, kept telling everyone what he felt, while admitting that having the words “Olympic champion” linked with his name had not yet sunk in. But he hopes that some American kid watching TV will see his race and be inspired. He hopes Casey FitzRandolph can be Eric Heiden for someone else.
