Chad Hedrick

Chad Hedrick

Hedrick at a world cup speedskating event in Heerenveen, the Netherlands
Personal information
Born	(1977-04-17) April 17, 1977 Spring, Texas
Height	1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Weight	78.02 kg (172.0 lb; 12.286 st)
Website	Official site
World Cup wins	1500 m – Holland 5000 m – Italy 1500 m – USA 5000 m – Canada
World championship wins	2004 overall
Sport
Country	United States
Sport	Speed skating
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s)	500 m: 35.52 (2009) 1000 m: 1:07.33 (2009) 1500 m: 1:42.14 (2009) 3000 m: 3:39.02 (2005) 5000 m: 6:09.68 (2005) 10000 m: 12:55.11 (2006)
Medal record Men's speed skating Representing the  United States Olympic Games Gold 2006 Turin 5000 m Silver 2006 Turin 10000 m Silver 2010 Vancouver Team pursuit Bronze 2006 Turin 1500 m Bronze 2010 Vancouver 1000 m World Championships Gold 2004 Hamar Allround Gold 2004 Seoul 5000 m Gold 2005 Inzell 5000 m Silver 2005 Moscow Allround Bronze 2004 Seoul 10000 m Bronze 2005 Inzell 10000 m

Chad Hedrick (born April 17, 1977) is an American inline speed skater and ice speed skater. He was born in Spring, Texas.

Hedrick revolutionized the inline speed skating world with his unique technique, called the double push, or DP. During his career he won 93 national championships and 50 world championships, as well as having a brand of inline skating wheels named after him.

Inline speed skating

Speed skating

After winning his 50th World Championship, in Oostende, Belgium, in 2002, he switched to ice speed skating after watching, on a television in a Las Vegas casino in 2002, fellow inline skater Derek Parra win a medal at the Salt Lake City Winter Olympics. In February 2004, a year and a half after he made his switch, Hedrick won the 2004 World Allround Speed Skating Championships, knocking more than a point off the world record points, reducing it to 150.478. On March 12, 2004, Hedrick won the gold medal in the 5,000 meters during the 2004 World Single Distance Championships, which were held Seoul, South Korea. In 2005 he successfully defended his 5,000 m world title in Inzell, Germany. At the 2005 World Allround Speed Skating Championships he lost his title to Shani Davis. Hedrick has set six world records in speed skating, but these have later been broken by others.^[1] He is currently 3rd in the unofficial world ranking, the Adelskalender after having led the rankings from November 2005-7. Hedrick is also one of only six men to have broken the 13 minute barrier on the 10,000 m more than once (the others being Jochem Uytdehaage, Sven Kramer, Lasse Sætre, Eskil Ervik and Carl Verheijen).

2006 Winter Olympic Games

The Texan raised the stakes for the Winter Olympics 2006 in Turin by proclaiming that he would equal Eric Heiden's record of five gold medals. On February 11, 2006, Hedrick won his only gold medal at this Olympics at the 5,000 m.

Hedrick caused controversy when he insisted Shani Davis, fellow American speed skater in the 1,000 m race, should have participated in the men's pursuit, stating, "I don't see what his logic is. We can't be beat if he skates. It's his decision. I'm not going to get in the middle of it. I would like him to be in the pursuit, but am I going to beg him? No."^[2] Five-time gold medalist and Olympic-team physician, Eric Heiden, has publicly written that Davis made the right choice in not participating in the team pursuit and thereby not jeopardizing his chances at a gold medal in his best event, the 1,000 meter race.

Davis eventually won the gold medal in the 1000 m race, while Hedrick finished sixth. In the 1,500 meter race, Davis won the silver medal, while Hedrick won the bronze. Hedrick also added a silver medal in the 10,000 m to his Olympic tally, and with three medals, became only the third American ever to win three medals in a single Winter Olympics.

Post Torino career

On March 5, 2006, Hedrick won a 1500 m race in the Netherlands and captured the 2006 World Cup title in the event. Shani Davis finished second in the race and finished in fourth place overall in the World Cup rankings. Two weeks later, Hedrick participated in the World Allround Championships in Calgary, aiming to take back the title he lost to Davis in 2005. On the fourth and final distance, the 10,000 meter, Hedrick needed to beat Davis by 8.32 seconds, but made a crucial mistake midway through the race; he turned into the inner lane instead of his scheduled outer, and though he realised his mistake quickly, he was motioned off some laps later.

2010 Winter Olympic Games

Hedrick qualified for the 1000 m, 1500 m, 5000 m, and the long-track team pursuit in the 21st Winter Olympiad held in Vancouver. Hedrick lost to Håvard Bøkko in the final pair of the 5000 m event. He would ultimately finish 10 places behind the winner, Dutchman Sven Kramer, in 11th place. Teammate Shani Davis finished one place behind Hedrick. Hedrick skated a 1:09.32 in the 1000 m which was good for the bronze behind Davis and South Korea's Mo Tae-bum. Hedrick was the leader of the team that won a surprising silver medal in team pursuit with an upset of the heavily favored Netherlands team in the semifinals bringing Hedrick's Olympic career to an end with a total of five medals with each one in a different event.

Personal bests

Source: speedskatingbase.eu^[3] & SpeedskatingResults.com^[4]

World ice speedskating records

Hedrick has so far skated six world records on ice skates

Event	Time	Date	Venue
Big combination	150.478	February 8, 2004	Hamar
3000 m	3.39,02	March 10, 2005	Calgary
5000 m	6.09,68	November 13, 2005	Calgary
1500 m	1.42,78	November 18, 2005	Salt Lake City
10,000 m	12.55,11	December 31, 2005	Salt Lake City
Big combination	148.799	January 22, 2006	Calgary

Source: SpeedSkatingStats.com^[1]

U.S. and world roller speed skating records

• National roller skating record in the 3,000 meters relay race (1993)
• National inline skating record in the 5,000 meters relay race (1998)
• National inline skating record in the 3,000 meters male-female relay race (1998)
• National inline skating record in the 1,500 meters race (1996)
• National outdoor track record in the 1,000 and 1,500 meters races (1999 and 1998 respectively)
• National outdoor track record in the 15,000 meters race (1998)
• National outdoor road record in the 500 and 1,000 meters races (2001)
• National outdoor road record in the 1,500 meters race (1998)
• National outdoor road record in the 10,000 meters race (2001)
• World outdoor road record in the 1,500 meters race (1999)
• World outdoor road record in the 10,000 meters race (1996)
• World outdoor road record in the 15,000 meters race (2000)

Personal life

On June 7, 2008, Chad Hedrick and Lynsey Elizabeth Adams were married in Houston, Texas. Their wedding was featured on the Style Network reality show "Whose Wedding Is It Anyway?" They had their first daughter, Hadley Hedrick, weighing 7 lb 15oz, on March 18, 2009. They had their second daughter, Harper Reese, on December 15, 2010.^[5]

At home

Hedrick's parents own a roller skating rink called Champions RollerWorld in Spring, Texas.

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Chad Hedrick.

• Official website
• Chad Hedrick's U.S. Olympic Team bio
• Chad Hedrick at SpeedSkatingStats.com
• Photos of Chad Hedrick
• OffThePodium.com
• Current Adelskalender
• SpeedskatingBase.eu with link to Results of Chad Hedrick
• AP Winter Games Profile: Chad Hedrick
• Associated Press: Davis, Hedrick carving quite an Olympic legacy

Awards and achievements
Preceded by Anni Friesinger	Oscar Mathisen Award 2004	Succeeded by Shani Davis