Weary Witty wins speed-skating gold, sets world record

Recovering from mono, she finishes in 1:13.83 and Miami's Jennifer Rodriguez wins bronze.

[AP photos] American speed-skater Chris Witty celebrates after winning the gold medal in the women's 1000 meters. She set a world record of 1:13.83. Photo gallery of Sunday’s action

By JOHN ROMANO, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published February 18, 2002

KEARNS, Utah -- Go back to Jan. 16. Back to a hotel room in Hamar, Norway. Back to the moment Eric Heiden told Chris Witty he had bad news.

Perhaps the greatest speed skater in Olympic history and now the U.S. team physician, Heiden told Witty she had mononucleosis.

As her doctor, he told her she would have to cut back on training and she would need to skip the last major event before the Olympics.

As her friend, he could not bear to tell her that her Olympic dreams essentially were ruined.

Jennifer Rodriguez of the United States races during the women's 1000 meter speedskating competition Sunday. Rodriguez, a Miami resident, slipped early in the race but held on to win the bronze.

Fast forward to Feb. 17. To the Utah Olympic Oval down the road from Witty's condominium. To the moment Witty made Olympic history.

Barely a month after being diagnosed with a disease that leaves a person drained and weak, Witty set a world record and won the 1,000-meter speed-skating gold medal with a time of 1:13.83.

"That moment when I saw 1:13 on the clock, I already had tears in my eyes," Witty said. "I was already shaking. It was such a shock."

Miami native Jennifer Rodriguez won a bronze with a time of 1:14.24. Germany's Sabine Voelker took silver in 1:13.96.

A silver and bronze medalist in Nagano, Witty essentially was written off for these Olympic Games. She was coming off the worst season of her career and could not even keep up with her teammates, let alone the world.

Discovering she had mononucleosis may have explained her poor performances in the past, but it did little to encourage her hopes for the future.

"It's a devastating illness," Heiden said. "Especially for her to have it at that time."

Witty, 26, sat alone in her Norway hotel room for about 20 minutes after Heiden and U.S. coach Bill Cushman left. She felt relief when Heiden first broke the news because she feared the worst when he said he needed to discuss her blood tests. But now that she was alone, reality began to set in.

"I wanted to cry. I had that shaky feeling you get like you're about to cry," she said. "But then I thought, 'That's stupid. Don't do it.' I figured I had to deal with this and move on."

Witty already had endured a number of failed remedies for her rapidly slowing times.

She initially cut back her workouts because she thought she might be overtraining. She left her condo in the mountains of Park City and moved into a friend's apartment in Salt Lake City because she thought the altitude was bothering her. She began taking iron supplements when she was misdiagnosed with anemia in December.

All the while, she listened to whispers that she no longer was among the world's elite. They said she had lost her edge. When she pulled out of a race in Calgary because her blades were not right, they said she lost her desire.

"It was tough. It was frustrating more than anything," Witty said. "I know a lot of people were counting me out. Some people said I shouldn't even bother coming to the Olympics because I wasn't going fast enough."

Even as the Olympics got under way, Witty was struggling. She would wake up some days and not feel well enough to train. She had workouts that were less strenuous than some athlete's warmups.

Heiden advised Witty to skip the 500-meter sprint earlier in the Games because he said it could wipe her out physically. It is not her best event and he told her she needed to save her strength for the 1,000.

Witty skated anyway and placed 14th.

Though she was a former world-record holder in the 1,000 and won the silver in Nagano, Witty was not considered one of the favorites Sunday. Rodriguez and Voelker, who came in with the world record, were the top skaters along with 500-meter champion Catriona LeMay Doan of Canada.

"I was shocked," Rodriguez said of Witty's performance. "I don't think anybody was expecting that race out of Witty. Including Witty."

Witty said the race was the pinnacle of her skating career, but it might not be the peak of her athletic career.

An accomplished cyclist, Witty became the ninth American to compete in both the Summer and Winter Olympics when she placed fifth in the 500-meter cycling time trials in Sydney in 2000. Should she make it to Athens in 2004 in cycling, she would have a chance to join Eddie Eagan as the only Americans to win gold in both Summer and Winter.

As Witty began her victory lap Sunday night, six-time Olympic medalist Bonnie Blair was screaming and shaking a cowbell at the top of the arena.

"I told you guys," Blair shouted. "Don't count her out."

2002 Olympics: Today's coverage

On The Wire