Zen and the Art of Speedskating

Shani Davis had an amazing day today, taking 2nd place in the 500m to Casey Fitzrandolph, and then knocking a full second off of his own Pettit national ice center rink record in the 1000m. He skated a 1:09.14 in his 1000m race.

He was paired with Joey Cheek, Joey also broke the old rink record by .3 The ice did not feel really fast to me today, and that makes these times even more astonishing.

I missed the start (I was still dazed from my own 1000m race only a few minutes before, hence the heavy breathing). This video is from the backstretch, and shows how closely matched these two amazing athletes were. See how close they come to each other in the crossover, and hear the coaches go ooooh!!

After the races were over, one of the top US sprinters said to me “Shani is either doing some amazing drugs, or we are watching the best speedskater in the world right now, maybe the best of all time. When was the last time a world allaround champion spanked Olympic medalist sprinters like this? Only one name comes to mind, Heiden, and that was not an era of specialization like this one is!”

Pretty strong words, we shall see what this season brings!

As for myself, my 500m felt rushed and imprecise, and slower than I hoped, 38.18. Weirdly enough I was paired with Chad Hedrick, and there was some good natured kidding around in the training room along the lines of “Chad better beat his own webmaster!” Chad skated a 36.76, and what he considers the finest final inner turn he has ever done in a 500m, and from my viewpoint on the outer, it was impressive.

My 1000m went much better, a huge sea level PB, 1:16.53, 1.8 seconds faster than I skated at nationals here last year. So I am content.

Filed under: Audio/Video, on the road