|
 |
Gold at last
By Jay Evensen
Deseret News Olympic specialist
KEARNS — This time, no judging scandal could take it away, and the favorite didn't fall to the ice. Catriona Le May Doan — the Cat, as she is known to her friends — ended Canada's frustration Thursday night by living up to her reputation as the fastest woman on ice and winning the gold medal in long-track speedskating's 500-meter race.
It was Canada's first gold of the 2002 Winter Games, and Le May Doan said she hopes it will usher in many more.
"The Olympics are only half over, so you can't say they are cursed," she said, responding to a question about whether this erases Canada's bad luck. "I just hope that this gets everybody excited. We know it should have been two gold up to now. We can't change anything, so we have to go on."
Le May Doan's combined time in two days of racing was 74.75 seconds, shattering her old Olympic record of 76.60, set in Nagano in 1998. Germany's Monique Garbrecht-Enfeldt won the silver with a combined time of 74.94, and fellow German Sabine Voelker finished third with a time of 75.19. None of the skaters went fast enough to break a world record, although Doan came within eight/hundredths of a second of that on Wednesday.
Earlier this week, Canadian figure skaters Jamie Sale and David Pelletier were given silver medals despite the widespread feeling that they, and not Russian skaters Elena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze, had earned the gold. Since then, accusations have arisen that judges were swapping votes and determining the event on something other than the merits of the skaters. The International Skating Union has launched a probe.
Then, on Monday, Canada's Jeremy Wotherspoon, the favorite in speedskating's men's 500 meters, lost his footing four steps into his first race and fell to the ice, ending his chances for a gold medal in that event.
Some Canadians may well have felt that the Salt Lake Games were jinxed for them. But not Le May Doan.
"I don't feel I have the pressure of a country. So many people were cheering and praying for me. I knew if I had my best race I'd be on the top."
In the 500 meters, the skaters race twice over two days. They begin once in the outer and once in the inner lane, to even out any disadvantages. Doan led the field after Wednesday's first race, but she was dissatisfied with her slim four/hundredths of a second lead over Barbrecht-Enfeldt. She was paired with the German in Thursday's race — the final pair of the day. She spent much of Wednesday night and all of Thursday nervously pondering and praying.
"I was angry at myself (after the first race)," she said. "I just had to dig down deep and have a great race today."
Ironically, her race Thursday was slower than on Wednesday. But, she said, "The time didn't really matter much. I knew with 50 meters to go it was enough."
It was Le May Doan's second Olympic gold medal. She won the 500 meters in Nagano and took the bronze in the 1,000 meters, a race she is entered in this time, as well.
American skater Chris Witty, who has been battling mononucleosis, tied her personal best with a time of 38.36 seconds, but that was good enough for only 14th place. Teammate Elli Ochowicz finished 22nd. The third U.S. skater in the race, Amy Sannes, fell in the first turn of her race Thursday.
E-MAIL: even@desnews.com
|
|
February 15, 2002
|
