Turin, Italy 2006 Winter Olympic Games

Olympic Speedskating Analysis

TURIN, Italy – Chad Hedrick's Olympic odyssey is over.

Thank goodness.

Hedrick leaves Turin with a complete set of doughnuts – the medals in these Games have a hole in the middle to represent the open space of an Italian piazza, or city square – and quite the sound bites.

The mouthy Texan won the silver medal in the 10,000 meter speedskating race on Friday, adding it to the gold he won the 5,000 and the bronze in the 1,500, his smackdown race with teammate Shani Davis that was won by Italy's Enrico Fabris.

Skating in the last of eight pairs in the grueling and tedious 10,000 meters, Hedrick was unable to match the fast time posted by Dutchman Bob de Jong, who flew around the 25 laps in 13 minutes, 1.57 seconds.

Hedrick went out fast and then felt the fatigue of trying perhaps too many events in his first Olympics, finishing in 13:05.40. Carl Verheijen took the bronze, a double-pleasure for the rowdy, orange-clad Dutch fans, who get fired up by an oom-pah band called Kleintje Pils – which translates to "Small Beer."

Now Hedrick will drop out of sight for four years – no offense to those of you who follow World Cup speedskating religiously – before bringing his Texas-sized ego to Vancouver in 2010.

That's probably a good thing.

Hedrick's act in Turin became old.

He came to Italy with the chance to match Eric Heiden's record of five gold medals in a Winter Olympics, set in 1980, and got off to a great start by winning the first event, the 5,000 meters.

In his defense, Hedrick never did say that he was going to become the next Heiden. The talk of a possible five gold medals was started by others once Hedrick entered five events.

But he clearly thrived on the talk. And every time he didn't win gold, he didn't always come across as a good loser. He kept saying how proud he was to be part of the U.S. Olympic team and how he was full of the Olympic ideal, then made it abundantly clear that it was all about him.

"I stuck it out and I did whatever I could to make the best of it and got into position for a silver medal," Hedrick said after Friday's race. "On a bad day like I had today, a silver medal's not bad. Of course I'm here to win and it's tough to swallow, but at the same time I gave it my all."

Acknowledging that skating five events had taken its toll physically, he added:

"My heart's bigger than everybody else out there. If other people would have felt the way I did today, they wouldn't have been on the podium. That was just me refusing to lose."

Remember, this is the guy whose penchant for self-promotion has led some detractors to call him "the Paris Hilton of speedskating."

His two most boorish comments came during his feud with Davis.

Hedrick didn't bother to congratulate Davis after he won the 1,000 meters to become the first black athlete to claim an individual gold medal at the Winter Olympics.

"Once Shani beat me, I didn't care if I got a bronze. I'm here to win. It's all or nothing," Hedrick said after finishing sixth that night.

He was peeved because Davis skipped the team pursuit to focus on his individual races. The Hedrick-led U.S. squad was upset in the quarterfinals by Fabris and the Italians, quickly ending Hedrick's chance for five gold medals.

After taking the bronze in the 1,500, he had this gem:

"I don't know how Shani feels, but I came here to win. If you come here for any reason other than that, then, in my eyes, you're wasting your time. ... I'm here to win. Anything less than a win, whether it's fourth, eighth, 10th, 50th, it's all the same thing."

Granted, no one ever comes to the Olympics saying, "I'm going for the bronze!," but contrast his reaction with, say, the U.S. women's hockey team. The Americans fully expected to be in a gold-medal showdown against Canada, then blew it with a disastrous loss to Sweden in a shootout in the semifinals. They came back and not only won the bronze medal, but said all the right things, including how hard it can be to win any medal at the Olympics. Many cried because it was their last game together.

Or the U.S. men's curling team, which was happy to end its long international medals drought by finishing third.

"Bronze, for the U.S., is like winning the gold," U.S. national team coach Ed Lukowich said after Friday's win over Great Britain.

Or how about Hedrick's teammate, Joey Cheek?

After winning the gold medal in the 500 meters and the silver in the 1,000, Cheek donated his $40,000 in USOC bonus money to a humanitarian organization led by former Olympic champion Johann Olav Koss.

At least Hedrick looked happier Friday than he did after the 1,500, when he acted like Davis didn't exist.

Hedrick skated a lap while carrying the American flag, and actually smiled and joked around with the Dutch medalists.

Asked if winning one gold was successful, Hedrick replied:

"Yeah, in a way. I feel like I left a lot of races out there. I won my first one, then went 0-for-4. I'm a little upset, but it was a good experience."

Hedrick intends to be back in 2010. He'll probably drop one race so he can be more effective in the races he does skate.

Shani Davis plans to be back. Judging by the way he and Hedrick left things, their feud will be as hot as ever.

And let's hope Kleintje Pils makes it to Vancouver. The Dutch at least know how to have some fun.

Updated on Friday, Feb 24, 2006 5:05 pm, EST

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