Fredricks savors third-place finish at Utah Olympic Oval

KEARNS — Tucker Fredricks' strength is his start — usually.

"Not lately, but yeah, usually the start is my strong suit," the 25-year-old native of Wisconsin said during the Essent ISU World Cup at the Utah Olympic Oval on Saturday. "I think I am in a pretty good position now. I've had podiums in all the World Cups, so I feel like I'm right up there."

Fredricks finished third in the men's 500-meter event with a time of 34.35. In order to take his skating in the right direction, Fredricks said he asked several former medalists for some advice.

"If you had it to do it all over again, what would you do differently?" he said he asked them. "I got some pretty good answers."

When asked what those were, he smiled and said, "It's a secret."

Korea's Lee Kyou-Hyuk (34.26) and Lee Kang-Seok (34.28) earned first and second place, respectively.

Canada's Jamie Gregg was fourth — by less than a 100th of a second — and said he felt good about the result, as some delays kept him waiting on the ice longer than usual.

"I was out there skating around for about 20-25 minutes before I raced," he said. "It shows me that I can focus, even when there are other things going on around me. It gives me confidence that I can put together a good race even with distractions."

His time was a personal best despite the fact that he didn't skate a perfect race.

"I was surprised at the time," he said.

The U.S. women were also represented on the podium, as Jennifer Rodriguez finished third in the women's 1,500-meter race.

"I really like the way the race went today," said Rodriguez, who came out of retirement two years ago to try and earn a trip to her third Olympic Games. "I need some power; I need to put some weight on."

She said she is focused on the quality of her race rather than the result at this point.

"I did feel very good skating," she said. "I just really like fast ice. It allows me to focus on technique rather than power. I'm more of a technical skater."

Her time was a half-second better than her best 500-meter time.

"It's nice to come across the line and be really satisfied regardless of the result (among other competitors)," said Rodriguez.