Sports

Olympics

Hedrick aims for fortune in gold

By Times Staff Writer
Published January 15, 2006

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Every Olympics produces a few new household names, and this year Chad Hedrick could well be one of them. The long-track speed skater from the Lone Star State is the only American who qualified for five events next month in Turin, giving him a shot at matching Eric Heiden's 1980 record of five golds.

Hedrick appeared on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno Monday, telling the host about a good sign he received recently at a Chinese restaurant. As he opened the last fortune cookie on the table, Hedrick posed this question: "How am I going to perform at the Olympics?"

The little strip of paper had an answer he loved.

"It said, "Soon you'll be standing on top of the world,' " he told Leno.

"I carry this with me wherever I go."

TOO YOUNG FOR TURIN: Who's the best jumper in the world of women's figure skating? Hint: It's not Irina Slutskaya, Sasha Cohen or any of the competitors who will be leaping above the ice next month in Turin. The most talented high-flyer is Japan's Mao Asada, who made history by landing two triple axels in December at the Japanese national championships. But because Asada is 15, International Skating Union rules prevent her from competing in the Olympics. Yes, Tara Lipinski was 15 when she won the gold for the United States in Nagano, but the rule was changed after that, requiring skaters to turn 15 by the July 1 before the Olympics.

Asada was the first junior to land a triple axel in international competition, accomplishing the feat at the 2004 Junior Grand Prix final. She did it again at the Senior Grand Prix final to defeat reigning world champion Slutskaya. After that event, Japan's prime minister put in a public plug for Asada's inclusion in the 2006 Games. But the rules won't change, and Asada said recently, "I will be satisfied if I can participate in the Vancouver Olympics in 2010."

OLYMPIC-SIZE COVERAGE: Get ready for the deluge of Winter Games on TV. According to nbc.com, coverage over the 17 days of competition will span a record 416 hours between NBC and the network's cable affiliates, MSNBC, CNBC and USA. (NBC will televise 182 hours, with the rest on cable.) That breaks the mark of 375.5 hours for the Salt Lake City Winter Games in 2002. Much of the action will be televised in high definition, with the exception of small sports such as curling and luge.

Bob Costas is on board for his sixth stint as NBC's Olympics prime-time host, with Jim Lampley anchoring telecasts during the day and late night. It will be Lampley's 13th Olympics, more than any broadcaster, breaking the mark he shared with ABC's Jim McKay. Two newcomers to the broadcast team are Dick Button, a fixture on ABC's figure-skating coverage, and Leslie Visser, loaned from CBS for the Olympics to cover short-track speed skating.

MISCELLANY: Snowboarding is making a splash heading into the 2006 Games. A handful of top U.S. competitors - Gretchen Bleiler, Ross Powers and Kelly Clark - made cameos last week on the NBC show Vegas. And as part of NBC's Olympic hype, a new music video by the Donnas, performing their song Fall Behind Me, features the four big names on the women's snowboard team: Clark, Bleiler, Lindsey Jacobellis and Hannah Teter. ... Italian slalom star Giorgio Rocca is doing his part to drum up ticket sales for the Turin Games. He has won four straight World Cup races and remains unbeaten this season. "The interesting thing is that since Giorgio Rocca started winning his competitions, there is a correlation with the victories of Giorgio and the selling of tickets," said Valentino Castellani, Turin organizing committee chief. ... Mindful of the possibility of terrorism, Italy has a huge security operation in place to protect the 2,500 athletes, 5,000 officials and 1-million spectators expected to attend. Some 9,000 police will guard against the threat of violence.

Compiled by Times staff writer Dave Scheiber, using information from Times wires and nbc.com.

[Last modified January 15, 2006, 01:48:18]