Derek Parra

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Derek Parra


Country	United States
Date of birth	March 15, 1970 (1970-03-15) (age 38)
Place of birth	San Bernardino, California
Height	1.62 m (5 ft 4 in)
Weight	63 kg (140 lb/9.9 st)

Medal record
Men's speed skating
Olympic Games
Gold	2002 Salt Lake City	1500 m
Silver	2002 Salt Lake City	5000 m
World Single Distance Championships
Silver	2001	1500 m
World Allrounds
Silver	2002	1500 m
Bronze	2002	500 m
Bronze	2002	Overall
Bronze	2004	1500 m
U.S. Allrounds
Gold	2000	Overall
U.S. Long Track Championships
Gold	2004	1500 m

Derek Parra (born March 15, 1970) is a Mexican-American speed skater from San Bernardino, California, who graduated from Eisenhower High School (Rialto, California) in 1988. Parra won two medals at the 2002 Winter Olympics, held in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Parra was originally a world champion inline speed skater. Following the lead of KC Boutiette, he switched to ice skating in the late 1990s as it was the only way he would have a chance of going to the Olympics as a speed skater.

Parra's most successful season was from 2001 to 2002. At the 2002 Winter Olympics, he took the gold in the 1500 meters, an event in which he had been expected to do well but faced a deep pool of competition. Before that, he had surprisingly won the silver in the 5000 meters, an event in which he had not been expected to place but in which he briefly held the world record before being bested by Jochem Uytdehaage of the Netherlands. A month after the Olympics, Parra finished third at the World Allround Championships.

Personal records
Men's speed skating
Distance	Time	Date	Location	Notes
500 m	35.88	2001-01-18	Salt Lake City, Utah
1000 m	1:08.87	2003-01-11	Salt Lake City, Utah
1500 m	1:43.95	2002-02-19	Salt Lake City, Utah	Olympic Record
3000 m	3:46.14	2002-02-03	Salt Lake City, Utah
5000 m	6:17.98	2002-02-09	Salt Lake City, Utah
10000 m	13:33.44	2002-02-22	Salt Lake City, Utah