As a member of the Regina Speed Skating Club, speed skater Justin Warsylewicz had an opportunity to handle Marcia Gudereit’s gold medal in curling, an experience that inspired him to train hard for the Olympics. He had begun speed skating at the age of four, when his father signed himself up to complement his cycling and running activities during the summer, and registered his son as well. Justin had also been involved in swimming, soccer and baseball. In 2004, at the age of 18, he earned the title of Canadian All Round Champion and won the World Junior Championships, but was forced to miss the first half of the 2004-2005 season when it was discovered that he had a rare heart condition known as Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which caused an irregular electrical current in his heart and required two surgeries. By the end of the season, however, he was back on the ice and once again named Canadian All Round Champion. The youngest member of the Canadian speed skating team at the 2006 Winter Olympics, he won a silver medal in the team pursuit event. Between training, he is a kinesiology student at the University of Calgary.
Personal Bests: 500 – 36.75 (2006); 1000 – 1:10.88 (2006); 1500 – 1:45.57 (2007); 3000 – 3:45.98 (2004); 5000 – 6:20.04 (2006); 10000 – 13:28.21 (2006).
Canada