Gold — at last!

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 15/02/2002 (8816 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

KEARNS, UTAH — The judges couldn’t take this gold away. Speed skater Catriona LeMay Doan captured Canada’s first gold medal last night in the women’s 500-metres — ending Canada’s string of unfortunate falls, bad judging and underachieving performances — then lapped the Olympic Oval with a black cowboy hat, a Canadian flag and a small Saskatchewan flag.

“I don’t feel I have a pressure of a country,” said the 31-year-old, who was from Saskatoon but now lives in Calgary. “I mean, I know so many people at home are praying and cheering for me, and they just hope the best for me.”

LeMay Doan won the two-day, combined-time event in 74.75 seconds. Behind her were a pair of Germans. Monique Garbrecht-Enfeldt took the silver in 74.94 and Sabine Voelker was third in 75.19.

The moment she crossed the finish line, LeMay Doan pumped her fists in triumph and began waving to the cheering crowd.

Spotting her husband Bart along the boards, LeMay Doan stopped, wrapped her arms about him and was rewarded with a victory kiss.

“I just put the pressure on myself and I never feel the pressure of other people,” said LeMay Doan, who was Canada’s flag-bearer during the Opening Ceremonies. “I know that if it hadn’t gone as it has gone, people would have been disappointed for me, but not disappointed at me.

“But I hope with this medal people are sort of re-encouraged. I think we’re just beginning a great competition.”

To date, however, LeMay Doan, the defending Olympic champion in the 500 metres, and Winnipeg speed-skating sensation Cindy Klassen have been the only two Canadians to meet or exceed expectations at the Games, while pairs dancers David Pelletier and Jamie Sale are still the focus of a judging controversy that promises to burn long after the Olympic torch in Salt Lake is extinguished.

LeMay Doan’s teammate, Jeremy Wotherspoon, a heavy favourite in the men’s 500 metres, fell near the start of his opening heat Monday and saw a sure medal slip away. In fact, the Canucks have experienced enough misfortune that LeMay Doan was asked if her goal will mark the end of a “curse.”

“I think the Olympics aren’t even half over, so we really can’t say they’re cursed,” she replied. “We’ve had an unfortunate five days or so with figure skating and Jeremy falling, but I think we’ve shown we’re a classy team.”

It was LeMay Doan’s 19th victory in her last 20 500-metre races. She was well off her world record of 37.22 seconds, which many believed she would break, and even slower than the 37.30 that left her angry after Wednesday’s first day of competition.

“It was definitely an up-and-down 24 hours,” she noted. “It wasn’t how I wanted to have the first day end. It just seemed like a repeat of the last Olympics.” In Nagano, LeMay Doan also captured the 500-metre gold after a sub-par first leg.

“I knew that if I had the races I was capable of having, I’d be standing on top,” LeMay Doan added. “But again, as I saw (Wednesday), this is the Olympics and everybody has their best races. For some reason, I don’t seem to have my best races on those days.

“Right away, I was just angry — not at anything but myself. I wanted that 2/10ths gap (between first and second). But I think most of all I was mad because I didn’t do what I wanted to do.

“You just have to dig down deep, with the whole support of the team behind me. It was like I was 12 again, and they had to reassure me and tell me how to skate.”

LeMay Doan got caught in traffic on her way from the Utah Olympic Oval to downtown Salt Lake City for the medal presentation and the ceremony was rescheduled for tonight.

Winnipeg’s Susan Auch, meanwhile, finished 21st overall yesterday, with a two-day time of 77.60.

“I didn’t have the race I was looking for,” admitted Auch, who will also compete in the women’s 1,000 metres Sunday. “It was a little bit hard to get off the ice. I had it in me to have the race of my life on Wednesday, but my equipment wasn’t right. Today, my equipment actually felt right.

“When you don’t do your best, it’s a bit hard,” the five-time Olympian added. “You live in a fantasy when you think you can change things and do it, but I guess I couldn’t do it.”

As for the impact of LeMay Doan’s golden victory on the Canadian team, the country’s chef de mission, Sally Rehorick, said the medal would “certainly help raise spirits a little bit.” “Our athletes are amazing,” Rehorick added. “Catriona, under the pressure of an Olympic Games, came through.”

Asked if her gold made up for the controversial silver won by Pelletier and Sale earlier this week, LeMay Doan was philosophical.

“I don’t think one medal ever makes up for another one,” she replied. “Again, I’m in a sport where I just go up against the clock and I could never have it any other way, because I’m in control of what I’m doing on the ice and I would be so frustrated any other way.

“We know it should be two gold by now. But we can’t change certain things and so we go on.

“I’m excited and looking forward to the Canadian anthem and seeing the flag go up.”

LeMay Doan will also race in the 1,000 metres Sunday.