5,000 metres, Men

A World Champion in inline skating, Chad Hedrick decide to switch to speed skating after seeing former colleague Derek Parra win gold in the 2002 Olympics. He débuted in the sport in 2002, and in 2004 he became an upset World Allround champion. His best event turned out to be the 5,000 m, winning the world title in both 2004 and 2005. In late 2005, he also bettered the world record in the event, although Sven Kramer lowered it again the next weekend. This feat also made Kramer Hedrick’s foremost contender, in addition to Carl Verheijen, Norwegians Ervik and Grødum, and home favorite Enrico Fabris. To add to the pressure, Hedrick had boldly announced that he would be aiming for 5 gold medals in Torino, competing in the 1,000, 1,500, 5,000, 10,000 and team pursuit.

Verheijen led the pack with 6:18.84 when Kramer started. With a solid race, he timed 6:16.40, but left room for Hedrick on some of his laps. With Hedrick starting the very next pair, Kramer’s time was soon doomed. Hedrick quickly took a 1-second lead, slowly extending it to about 2 seconds. Hedrick’s final time was quite close to the Olympic Record set at high altitude, finishing in an excellent 6:14.68. The remaining skaters were no threat to Hedrick. Skating in the final pair, it appeared Enrico Fabris could not medal either, trailing Verheijen’s time by more than 2 seconds at 3,800 m. But with fast closing laps, he managed to close the gap, making up for a 7-tenth gap in the final 400 m to win the bronze medal, Italy’s first ever speed skating medal at the Olympics.