Hedrick's pursuit of Heiden ends

TORINO, Italy — One teammate didn't show up, another couldn't keep up. And not even Chad Hedrick could do it alone.

Already the owner of one gold medal, Hedrick was hoping to get started on another Wednesday in the two-day team pursuit. But the Americans were eliminated in the quarterfinals, dashing Hedrick's hope of matching Eric Heiden's record five gold medals in a Winter Olympics.

"The five medals isn't a big thing," Hedrick said. "The most important thing for me right now is to go out and have fun. Things could be a lot worse right now."

Shani Davis skipped the pursuit to concentrate on his individual races, leaving Hedrick as the strongest skater on the three-man team.

"I can't think what might have been with Shani there," Hedrick said. "We had a team with good skaters . . . They all went out there and gave their hearts and tried their best. There's no one to blame."

Hedrick, KC Boutiette and Charles Ryan Leveille lost to the Italian team of Matteo Anesi, Stefano Donagrandi and Enrico Fabris by nearly a half-second after leading through the first four laps.

Boutiette couldn't keep up with his younger teammates, lagging about 10 feet behind when Leveille and Hedrick were first across the finish line. The Italians crossed together, giving them the victory on home ice.

A team wins when its third skater crosses the line.

The American women didn't fare much better.

Jennifer Rodriguez, Maria Lamb and Catherine Raney were eliminated from medal contention in the six-lap quarterfinals. They lost by 3.35 seconds to Canadians Kristina Groves, Cindy Klassen and Christine Nesbitt.

"Of course, we're a little disappointed," said Rodriguez, Boutiette's wife. "We got Canada right off the bat and they're a great, great team. You would hope to get them in the medal round. Maybe we could've skated a little faster, but I still don't think we would've beaten them."

Leveille led the U.S. around the oval on the last lap, with Hedrick nearly overrunning him and pushing on his younger teammate's backside. Boutiette had no chance to make up the gap.

"When it gets to a certain point, your body does give out. I'm not a young buck anymore," the 35-year-old skater said. "I gave it my all."

Afterward, both Hedrick and Boutiette second-guessed the U.S. strategy of having Boutiette bring up the rear.