Hedrick, Davis give U.S. a 1-2 punch

KEARNS — Chad Hedrick is going to be the busiest long track speedskater at the Turin Games. As the only American who qualified for five events, the confident Texan has set his sights on Eric Heiden's record of five golds in one Olympics.

"That would be an unbelievable feat for me," said Hedrick, who set a world record in the 10,000 meters at the U.S. championships that ended Saturday.

"With a lot of great skating, continuing to work hard and having a little luck on my side, it could happen. But those are some big shoes to fill."

Hedrick will be competing in his first Olympics barely three years after switching from inline skating to the ice. He qualified in the 1,000, 1,500, 5,000 and 10,000, and is expected to skate in team pursuit, a new event.

"He's going to be better in four years than he is now," said Bart Schouten, Hedrick's coach. "He's still learning. He's still not done."

Neither is Shani Davis.

He failed in his bid to make the Olympic short track team, leaving him free to concentrate on his budding rivalry with Hedrick in the 1,000, 1,500 and 5,000.

"The world has got their hands full with us two," Hedrick said.

Davis had already qualified for the long track squad, so he skipped last week's championships to train in Calgary. That denied Hedrick his strongest competition and set up a compelling storyline for Turin.

"Those guys bring out the best in each other," Schouten said.

Hedrick has taken the typically staid speedskating world by storm with his ability and outspoken nature since his emergence in 2004, when he became the first non-Dutch skater to win the all-around world championship since 1988.

"I've spent too much time in my life sacrificing for this sport to come out here and be happy getting second place," he said. "I'm not that much more talented than everybody, I'm not that much stronger, but sometimes it has to do with what your head and your heart want."

Davis has come up quickly in the years since Salt Lake City, when he was an alternate on the short track team and didn't skate.

Beyond the Hedrick-Davis rivalry, all six long track medalists from the 2002 Salt Lake City Games will be in Turin: Kip Carpenter, Joey Cheek, Casey FitzRandolph, Derek Parra, Jennifer Rodriguez, and Chris Witty.