From Wheels to Blades, Hedrick Gains an Edge

Chad Hedrick earned enough endorsement income as an inline skater to purchase a new Mustang convertible for his 16th birthday. By 18, his income soared into six figures. In his early twenties, he was nothing short of a living legend in his esoteric occupation, in which he won more than 60 national championships and dozens of world titles.

By the time Hedrick, then 24, sat at a Las Vegas blackjack table in 2002, eyeing the overhead televisions as an old inline skating rival, Derek Parra, appeared on the screen -- in ice skates at the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City -- glory had become routine. Money had lost much of its meaning. Boredom threatened, evidenced by Hedrick's place in a casino rather than a practice rink smack in the middle of an inline tournament.

After watching Parra win an Olympic gold medal, instead of throwing more chips onto the table, Hedrick decided to gamble with his career.

"What am I doing here?" Hedrick said to his father, Paul, who was sitting alongside him. "Why don't I try that ?"

Hedrick, now 28, put on speedskates for the first time that summer. He closed the door on a sport at which he had excelled since he was 2, transferring his success as easily as if he were wiring money to a new account. Just three years after making the switch from wheels to blades, Hedrick already has set world records, won prestigious international titles and made the U.S. Olympic team for the Feb. 10-26 Winter Games in Turin, Italy. He is considered a gold medal favorite in two events and a medal hope in as many as three others.

"What he's been able to achieve in such a short period of time is absolutely remarkable," said U.S. Speedskating President Andy Gabel, a four-time Olympian.

The U.S. Olympic trials in long-track speedskating get underway today in Salt Lake City and Hedrick has already qualified for the Games in the 1,500, 5,000 and team pursuit. Hedrick, who broke three world records in less than a month this fall, hopes to add the 1,000, which is contested tomorrow and Saturday, to his Olympic repertoire. He is considered a virtual lock to qualify for the 10,000 once he arrives to Turin; qualification for that event occurs during the 5,000 at the Games.

"It's my dream to win the Olympics," Hedrick said. "It's not about money to me. If you are the best at what you do, whether it's Ping-Pong or table dancing, you are going to make money."

Just 18 months after putting on long track ice skates -- the blades open and close and are known as clap skates -- for the first time, Hedrick won the sport's prestigious World Allround title in February 2004, ending a nine-year Dutch hold on the title. His rise was as stunning for its speed as its breadth.

"It was real easy to jump out on the ice," he said. "The ice is your friend. You can glide and not lose speed. That was the big advantage for me."

Hedrick has joined a long list of inliners who have converted to speedskating in the hopes of making an Olympic team. Besides Parra, Olympians Jennifer Rodriguez, Joey Cheek and KC Boutiette are among those who have made the switch successfully. Like his predecessors, however, Hedrick's earliest days on the ice did not foreshadow his current success. At the start Hedrick struggled to master the long, smooth, graceful strokes considered fundamental to the sport.

He preferred to get his whole body involved, using his shoulders and hips to provide more power to his skating. As a result, he barreled over the ice with a side-to-side motion that, he said, drew guffaws from Dutch, Norwegian and German skaters.