A tarnished life becomes golden for skater Parra

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KEARNS, Utah -- The baby's eyes are just like her father's. With any luck, so are her dreams.

This would be the greatest gift Derek Parra could pass on to Mia Elizabeth. The understanding that the world is full of possibilities for someone with enough passion and courage to continue chasing a dream.

She is 9 weeks old and 2,000 miles from her father's arms. But, someday, Mia will learn about the moment Derek caught up to his aspirations and won an Olympic gold medal in speed skating.

She will hear the sad story of his childhood. The way his mother left when he was a toddler and the difficult times growing up with his father, a prison guard, in southern California. She may wince when she hears how he moved to Pasco County, at 17, to live with a family he barely knew. And how he would snatch discarded food after work at the McDonald's on State Road 54 because he had so little money to feed himself.

Eventually, Mia will be shown pictures of her mother and father embracing in front of a cheering crowd at the Utah Olympic Oval. She will see the tears that rolled simultaneously down their cheeks.

And she will understand this is what dreams look like.

Parra, soon to be an Orlando resident, became the first Mexican-American to win a gold medal in the Winter Olympics Tuesday when he set a world record in the 1,500-meter race with a time of 1:43.95. Along with his silver from the 5,000 meters last week, Parra, 31, becomes the first American male to win multiple speed-skating medals since Eric Heiden in 1980.

"Winning gold is fantastic. But to be the first Mexican-American? That's something beyond myself," Parra said. "If I can challenge any kids -- it doesn't matter if they're Mexican or Asian or black or white -- to challenge themselves and reach their dreams, that's more important than anything else.

"Just follow your dreams. If you have a passion for something, then go for it."

Understand, however, that dreams are not so easily grasped.

For the past 14 months, Parra has lived apart from his wife, Tiffany. Tired of bouncing from home to home for his training, they agreed late in 2000 that Tiffany would return to her hometown of Orlando and Derek would train in Salt Lake City and work part time at a Home Depot.

He made it home just in time for Mia's birth on Dec. 14 and had to leave the next day for the Olympic trials. She is 68 days old and Derek has been gone for 60 of those days.

"I haven't seen her growing up yet," Parra said. "Sometimes, when you're having a bad practice, you think, "Why am I doing this?'

"Why am I doing this when I could be home with my wife, doing a normal job, seeing my daughter grow up. I could be playing with her and watching her make the goo-goos and ga-gas. Now I only hear it on the phone. It's hard. You have to ask yourself if it really is worth it."

As difficult as recent months have been, Parra had come too far to turn back. He began roller-skating in rinks around San Bernardino, Calif., with older brother Gilbert. Together, they were like pool hustlers, going from rink to rink. Gilbert said their father could not afford to give them money for food, so the Parra boys would win races for snack tickets.

"We used to race for hot dogs and Cokes. The gold medal is a lot better," Gilbert said. "When he was little, he wanted to be like his older brother. Now I want to be like him."

As a high school student, Parra met roller-skating coach Virgil Dooley at a USOC training camp in Colorado Springs. He took an instant liking to Dooley's style and told him he was going to train with him after high school.

Dooley, who lived in Port Richey at the time, got a call on a Wednesday afternoon some months later. Parra said he was flying to Tampa on Friday and could Dooley pick him up?

"He said, "Could I stay with you for a couple of days until I find a place to live?' " said Dooley, who now lives in Dover, N.H. "I said, "Yeah, I guess that'll be all right.' He lived with us for seven years."

Parra went on to win 18 world titles on roller-skates and, in the late 1980s, moved with the Dooleys to Maryland. He struck out on his own in the mid 1990s and switched to ice skates, but never forgot his surrogate family. He surprised the Dooleys by showing up for their 25th wedding anniversary a couple of years ago and shocked them again with a telephone call after winning his silver medal last week.

"He said, "I'm about to get up on the podium for my medal. I just want to let you guys know I love you,' " Dooley said. "That's the kind of person he is. He is so genuine and cares so much about people."

After the final race was completed Tuesday, and it was clear Parra had won, he insisted U.S. national coach Bart Schouten accompany him on a victory lap around the oval. Tiffany would later come down from the bleachers and the couple held each other near the flower podium.

"I just told him that I loved him," Tiffany said. "It was the first time I've really gotten to hug him since Christmas."

Back in Orlando, Mia sleeps and waits for Mommy and Daddy to come home.

What do you suppose she dreams about?

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