Chad Hedrick is competing in the Winter Olympics 2010 in Vancouver in speed skating.
Chad Hedrick was one of the breakout stars of the Torino Games, earning a medal of each color: gold in the 5000m, silver in the 10,000m and bronze in the 1500m. Although he didn't accomplish his goal of matching Eric Heiden's record five medals in a single Games, Hedrick was happy with his haul. "That's the deal when you pick five events and try to go for something special,'' he said after his final event. "You're going to sacrifice time in some events.''
After Torino, Hedrick took eight months off and had to decide whether he wanted to return to the sport at all. When he began competing again in the 2006-07 season, he repeatedly found himself in an unfamiliar position: off the podium. Admittedly not in great shape, Hedrick finished 24th in the 5000m at the 2007 World Single Distance Championships.
Hedrick was never known for his superior work ethic, and prided himself on unconventional training methods that often included more resting that working out. But his latest results were proof enough that he had plenty of work to do if he wanted to regain his championship form. Hedrick buckled down with a new coach and ditched his old habits. In 2007 U.S. Speedskating hired Dutchman Bart Veldkamp, a four-time Olympian, who persuaded Hedrick to begin weightlifting and cycling as part of his training. The new regimen paid off at the 2008 World Allround Championships, where Hedrick finished fourth, a huge improvement on his 14th-place finish in 2007.
After the 2008-09 season, Hedrick again went for a training overhaul. He said the intensity of weight training and cycling left him exhausted at races, saying he felt he was racing at about 80 percent. Hedrick instead shifted back to his inline training program, with an emphasis on quick turnover and plyometrics, and expects to be fully ready for the 2009-10 season.
Off the ice, things have changed for Hedrick as well. In June 2008, he married Lynsey Adams, also a Texan from Spring. The planning process and wedding were filmed for an episode of the Style Network reality show "Whose Wedding Is It Anyway?" The show aired in fall 2008. Hedrick and his wife had their first child, a girl named Hadley, in March 2009.
Long before Hedrick laced up his clap skates he was an inline skating star. The 50-time inline world champion, who is generally regarded as the best inline skater in history, has a brand of inline skating wheels—the Hyper Chad Hedrick Micro—named after him. Hedrick, who first put on roller skates at age 2, also has his own signature inline move called the "double push," where he simultaneously uses both legs to accelerate. He has adapted the maneuver to the ice, where speed skaters usually push on one leg at a time.
Skating is the family business with the Hedrick clan. Hedrick's father, Paul, worked at a roller rink as a young man and by age 27 he owned his own rink. Paul now has five roller rinks in the Houston area called Champions Roller World. The elder Hedrick, who once was Chad's inline skating coach, occasionally attends his son's races in Europe, where he wears his trademark cowboy hat. Hedrick's mother, Wanda, works at one of the roller rinks on the weekends.
As a child Hedrick played ice hockey, which he credits for helping him get his basic feel for the ice in speed skating. "People thought I was nuts for playing hockey in Texas," Hedrick said. Hedrick started the winter game because his best friend, who hailed from Canada, was an avid hockey player. In his spare time Hedrick now plays golf and says his handicap is between eight and 10.
Hedrick originally tried speed skating in 1997, when he moved to Calgary to train. But it didn't last long because the Texan didn't think the coaches were ready to accept inline skaters. At that time American K.C. Boutiette had made a successful transition from inline skating to speed skating at the 1994 Lillehammer Games, but the swarm of inline skaters had yet to make the switch to the ice. Hedrick gave speed skating another chance when while playing blackjack in Las Vegas he saw Parra win the 1500m at the 2002 Salt Lake Games. After watching Parra break the world record, Hedrick realized he had accomplished everything he could in inline and decided to make the switch. He moved out of his Houston home, went into semi-retirement from inline and relocated to Utah to focus on speed skating.
Chad Hedrick was one of the breakout stars of the Torino Games, earning a medal of each color: gold in the 5000m, silver in the 10,000m and bronze in the 1500m. Although he didn't accomplish his goal of matching Eric Heiden's record five medals in a single Games, Hedrick was happy with his haul. "That's the deal when you pick five events and try to go for something special,'' he said after his final event. "You're going to sacrifice time in some events.''
After Torino, Hedrick took eight months off and had to decide whether he wanted to return to the sport at all. When he began competing again in the 2006-07 season, he repeatedly found himself in an unfamiliar position: off the podium. Admittedly not in great shape, Hedrick finished 24th in the 5000m at the 2007 World Single Distance Championships.
Hedrick was never known for his superior work ethic, and prided himself on unconventional training methods that often included more resting that working out. But his latest results were proof enough that he had plenty of work to do if he wanted to regain his championship form. Hedrick buckled down with a new coach and ditched his old habits. In 2007 U.S. Speedskating hired Dutchman Bart Veldkamp, a four-time Olympian, who persuaded Hedrick to begin weightlifting and cycling as part of his training. The new regimen paid off at the 2008 World Allround Championships, where Hedrick finished fourth, a huge improvement on his 14th-place finish in 2007.
After the 2008-09 season, Hedrick again went for a training overhaul. He said the intensity of weight training and cycling left him exhausted at races, saying he felt he was racing at about 80 percent. Hedrick instead shifted back to his inline training program, with an emphasis on quick turnover and plyometrics, and expects to be fully ready for the 2009-10 season.
Off the ice, things have changed for Hedrick as well. In June 2008, he married Lynsey Adams, also a Texan from Spring. The planning process and wedding were filmed for an episode of the Style Network reality show "Whose Wedding Is It Anyway?" The show aired in fall 2008. Hedrick and his wife had their first child, a girl named Hadley, in March 2009.
Long before Hedrick laced up his clap skates he was an inline skating star. The 50-time inline world champion, who is generally regarded as the best inline skater in history, has a brand of inline skating wheels—the Hyper Chad Hedrick Micro—named after him. Hedrick, who first put on roller skates at age 2, also has his own signature inline move called the "double push," where he simultaneously uses both legs to accelerate. He has adapted the maneuver to the ice, where speed skaters usually push on one leg at a time.
Skating is the family business with the Hedrick clan. Hedrick's father, Paul, worked at a roller rink as a young man and by age 27 he owned his own rink. Paul now has five roller rinks in the Houston area called Champions Roller World. The elder Hedrick, who once was Chad's inline skating coach, occasionally attends his son's races in Europe, where he wears his trademark cowboy hat. Hedrick's mother, Wanda, works at one of the roller rinks on the weekends.
As a child Hedrick played ice hockey, which he credits for helping him get his basic feel for the ice in speed skating. "People thought I was nuts for playing hockey in Texas," Hedrick said. Hedrick started the winter game because his best friend, who hailed from Canada, was an avid hockey player. In his spare time Hedrick now plays golf and says his handicap is between eight and 10.
Hedrick originally tried speed skating in 1997, when he moved to Calgary to train. But it didn't last long because the Texan didn't think the coaches were ready to accept inline skaters. At that time American K.C. Boutiette had made a successful transition from inline skating to speed skating at the 1994 Lillehammer Games, but the swarm of inline skaters had yet to make the switch to the ice. Hedrick gave speed skating another chance when while playing blackjack in Las Vegas he saw Parra win the 1500m at the 2002 Salt Lake Games. After watching Parra break the world record, Hedrick realized he had accomplished everything he could in inline and decided to make the switch. He moved out of his Houston home, went into semi-retirement from inline and relocated to Utah to focus on speed skating.
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