Jeremy Wotherspoon

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Medal record
Men's speed skating
Olympic Games
Silver	1998 Nagano	500 m
World Championships
Silver	2005 Salt Lake City	Sprint
Bronze	2005 Inzell	500 m
Silver	2004 Nagano	Sprint
Gold	2004 Seoul	500 m
Silver	2004 Seoul	1000 m

Jeremy Lee Wotherspoon (born October 26, 1976 in Humboldt, Saskatchewan) is a Canadian speed skater.

Wotherspoon was born in Humboldt, Saskatchewan but grew up in Red Deer, Alberta. He first became involved in speedskating after signing up for a power skating class in an effort to improve his ice hockey skills. Initially, Wotherspoon competed in both short track and long track events. He eventually chose long track as a specialty and climbed through the junior ranks, moving to Calgary to train with the Canadian National Team at the age of 17. Wotherspoon was soon winning medals on the World Cup circuit, with his first victories coming in 1997. In 1998, his arrival at the top echelon of the sport was confirmed at the Nagano Olympic Games when he won a silver medal in the 500 m distance.^{[citation needed]} Since that time he has dominated the sprint events and has held world records in both the 500 m and 1000 m distances. He is a 4-time World Sprint Champion (1999, 2000, 2001, 2003), and a 12-time World Cup Overall Champion (on the 500 m in 1998, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2008 and on the 1000 m in 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002).

Disappointment came at the 2002 Olympic Winter Games in Salt Lake City, however, as Wotherspoon fell at the start of his run during the 500 m. This was especially disappointing as he was considered the gold medal favourite.