SPEEDSKATING: Wootherspoon has Sochi hope
For a brief moment, time stood still Saturday night amid the suffocating tension at Calgary’s Olympic Oval.
At age 37, coming out of retirement for one more shot at Olympic glory, Jeremy Wotherspoon turned in a vintage performance in the first of two 500-metre races at the Intact Insurance 2014 Speedskating Team Selections.
On the line: the chance to represent Canada for a fifth and final time on the Olympic stage in Sochi, Russia.
“I had chills watching him,” fellow Canadian skater Denny Morrison whispered.
“Jeremy will always fly around that track in our memory banks,” Clara Hughes, the six-time Olympic medallist in speedskating and cycling, wrote on Twitter.
With a time of 34.59 seconds — he still holds the world record of 34.07 seconds set in Salt Lake City in 2007 — Wotherspoon did fly around the track in the first race to sit in third place.
There the magic ended, with Wotherspoon struggling off the start of the second race and botching the first turn on home ice. His time of 34.881 dropped him to sixth overall with a combined time of 69.47 seconds to fall out of contention for a spot in the 500 metres at the 2014 Winter Games.
“I had a good one and then I gave it away a bit in the second race,” muttered the man with more long-track World Cup medals (67) than anyone else on the planet. “I feel a bit disappointed in that.”
A “bit disappointed” is a slight understatement. A legend of the sport, Wotherspoon announced his plan last June to come out of retirement for a final chance at writing the Olympic success story that eluded him over his 15year career.
Inducted into Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame in 2012, Wotherspoon holds three 500-metre world titles and another in the 1,000 to go with four world sprint championships. He won silver in the 500 metres at the 1998 Winter Games in Nagano but failed to grace the podium in Salt Lake City (2002), Turin (2006) and Vancouver (2010.)
The Red Deer, Alta., native retired after the Vancouver Games and accepted a coaching position in Germany. For three years, Wotherspoon tended to the dreams of the next generation before realizing he had unfinished business himself.
“It was a tough challenge,” Wotherspoon said of the comeback attempt. “I knew it would be.” He paused. “No regrets. I have nothing to regret.”
His dream of competing in Sochi is not yet dead. With a stellar performance in the 1,000 metres on Monday, he can still qualify for the Games. But the 500 metres is Wotherspoon’s calling card, his bread and butter. And his legs betrayed him. “Right now, I feel a bit tired and disappointed,” a dejected Wotherspoon said of his chances in the 1,000. “So I have to refocus for that.” Hope, albeit faint hope, remains. “I feel like I obviously got myself to a level where I can compete at the trials, Wotherspoon said. “In the first race, I was almost the same time as guys who won medals in World Cups in the fall. I was pretty happy to be that close, so that makes it even more disappointing to have the second race that I had.”
Jamie Gregg, of Edmonton, locked up a spot on the Canadian Olympic team by finishing first in a combined time of 69.15 seconds.
“I was hoping he was going to make it,” said Gregg, who is married to Wotherspoon’s sister Danielle. “He’s my brother-in-law and a really good friend … He killed it that first race. I was super impressed and super happy, hoping that he was going to be there as well. I just think he didn’t execute as well as he wanted to. Maybe that has something to do with taking three years off. I’m not sure. I mean he’s a great skater. You can never take that away from him.
“He still has a really good shot in the 1,000 — maybe even a better shot in the 1,000. So we’ll see …”
Calgary’s Gilmore Junio booked his ticket to Russia in the 500 metres in a combined time of 69.31 seconds to finish second. William Dutton, of Humboldt, Sask., is also looking good for Sochi after placing third in a combined time of 69.38.
Canada can provisionally send eight male and 10 female longtrack skaters to Russia over all distances. Nothing will be finalized until the team is officially named on Jan. 22.