Trio of Americans Contend for 1,000 Meters Gold
American standout Shani Davis, the world record holder, will have plenty of competition in a loaded field in the men's 1,000-meter long-track event.
(By Jasper Juinen -- Associated Press)
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There's a world record holder, a guy who wants to give away more money and the silver medalist from the last two Olympics.
Then there's Chad Hedrick, hoping to put his name alongside the likes of Heiden, Koss and Schenk.
The 1,000 meters could go down as the speedskating race of the Games, but it's clearly the longest shot for a medal among Hedrick's individual events. That much was evident from the start list: He was assigned to the fourth of 21 pairs, while the higher-ranked skaters -- Americans Shani Davis, Joey Cheek and Casey FitzRandolph and Dutch star Jan Bos among them -- will go off in the later groups.
So, who are the favorites? Start with Davis, the world record holder and lone wolf of the U.S. team. There's Cheek, who dominated the 500 and donated his $25,000 bonus to a charity run by retired speedskating icon Johann Olav Koss. FitzRandolph is eager to make up for a poor showing in the 500. The Dutch have strong contenders in Bos and Erben Wennemars. Russian Dmitry Dorofeyev and South Korea's Lee Kyou Hyuk could get on the podium.
"It's stacked," FitzRandolph said. "Just to win a medal you've got to skate awesome. There's so many great guys."
Speedskating Men's 1,000 Meters Top Five, World Cup rankings 1. Shani Davis, U.S. 2. Joey Cheek, U.S. 3. Evan Wetten, Norway 4. Dmitry Dorofeyev, Russia 5. Casey FitzRandolph, U.S. U.S. Team Joey Cheek Shani Davis Casey FitzRandolph Chad Hedrick On TV NBC, 8-11:30 p.m.
