U.S. speedskating: Rebekah Bradford gets over her mental speed bump

KEARNS — Rebekah Bradford finally dealt with the woman who'd been sabotaging her speed skating career.

It wasn't that this woman wanted Bradford to fail. In fact, it was her lofty expectations that were weighing Bradford down.

"I was my own worst enemy," said Bradford after she won both the 500 and 1,000-meter sprints at the Long Track Championships on Tuesday at the Utah Olympic Oval. "I was inhibiting my own performance."

After a 21/2-half hour session with a sports psychologist, she said she was able to "give it a name and give it away."

The name was expectations.

"It's the K.I.S.S. thing," she said. "Keep it Simple, Stupid. I think I am over that hump now."

That mental speed bump threw Bradford for a loop.

"I thought I made a lot of leaps and bounds last year," she said.

Her progress last year actually created expectations that caused her to stumble under the pressure.

"I really short-circuited on the ice," she said.

To win two races in one day had Bradford beaming. She earned a season-best time of :38.48 in the 500. Lauren Cholewinski was second with a time of :39..11 and Brittany Bowe was third with a personal-record time of :39.71. Bradford won the 1,000-meter race with a season-best time of 1:16.79. Bowe was second (1.17.73) and Kelly Gunther was third (1:18.65).

"Relief," she said of how she felt. "It's great to finish like that. My family is here, and we're going to celebrate the holiday."

She's hoping to build on this week's success.

"I'm very excited to see what I can do," she said, the smile returning to her face.

While Bradford won both of the women's sprints, Joey Lindsey won the men's 500. Olympian Shani Davis won the 1,000-meter event. Lindsey's time was :35.08, while Fredricks tied for second with Davis with times of :35.15.

In the 1,000-meter race, Davis finished first (1:08.18), Jonathan Kuck was second with a personal-best 1:09.25, and Brian Hansen was third (1:09.42).

Lindsey was thrilled with the win after a back injury kept him from training until October.

"It was from overtraining," said the 22-year-old. "I've only been doing (long track) for about a year. During the summer, I was training with short track and long track, about eight hours a day, every day. It was just too much.."