Speedskating Into 2026 With U.S. Olympic Trials

Just days after ringing in 2026, U.S. Speedskating hosted the long track Team USA Olympic Trials at The Pettit National Ice Center in the Milwaukee suburb of West Allis. 

Nestled beside the snow-covered Wisconsin State Fair Park, The Pettit sold out three of the four competition dates Jan. 2 to 5, with thousands of fans -- including multiple Olympic champions who reside and coach locally -- in attendance.

Though I previously attended Olympic speed skating (domestically it's one word but in the IOC world it's two) starting with Salt Lake 2002 then again at Vancouver 2010 and Sochi 2014, and though my first visits to The Pettit spanned early 1995 through 2015, the 2026 gathering was my first Olympic Trials. 

It was also the first time with media access thanks to Kevin Butler of The Pettit and Alysha Rummler of U.S. Speedskating's media team, who hosted several dozen reporters including WTMJ-TV and crews from Chicago, USA Today, The Athletic, Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel and NPR affiliates. 

A typical reporting session involved:

• Viewing the races from grandstand seating or standing room credential-access sections on the ends of the skating oval
• Keeping an eye on the top finishers to wrap up their national NBC interviews and change out of their skates in the center of the venue
• Hustling to the under-track maze of corridors, locker rooms and workout spaces to the "mixed zone" at which athlete:media conversations took place in short post-race or post-ceremony intervals

In no particular order, Olympian interviews took place with Erin Jackson, Brittany Bowe, Jordan Stolz and Conor McDermott-Mostowy, who each entered the trials as favorites. 

Surprise conversations also took place with newly-designated Olympians, most notably Greta Myers, who became the buzz of the Trials when she crossed over too close to Bowe on one of the last straightaways in their 1500 race, forcing a disqualification while creating an opportunity to race again for an Olympic spot. 

Though skating solo and exhausted from the original race only an hour earlier, Myers finished with a faster time to seal her Milan Cortina travels. Here's one of the athlete conversations: 

The full U.S. Speedskating roster for Italy is available with bios here. 

At one point over the weekend, I spotted Olympic champion Shani Davis speaking with NBC's reporting team. Later near the merch tables, he shared a few stories from his Olympic experiences (we had previously crossed paths at a restaurant near the 2018 PyeongChang Olympic Village at that Games) and we talked pin collecting, an aspect of the athlete experience he seemed to appreciate. Nice guy! 

With only minutes to spare before my Jan. 5 sprint to rental car return and fly home from Mitchell Field MKE, my all-time favorite skater Bonnie Blair -- who resides not far my ex-girlfriend's home in Delafield, Wis. -- shared a few minutes about skating at the Olympic Trials in Milwaukee when the ice oval was outdoors (BRRRRR) circa 1988. 

Inspired by the Team USA Trials, I secured tickets to three of the speedskating finals (so far) in Milan, where its reported the Americans have a shot at sharing the podium with Team Netherlands and their entourage including Femke Kok (the ice answer to my other favorite Femke). 

See you soon at Milano Speed Skating Stadium!

Photos by Nicholas Wolaver

 

Olympic Headlines

Just read a couple of inspiring Olympian stories from recent news reports: NOLA.com reports on 1948 Olympic bronze medalist Herb Johnson delivered an inspiring commencement address; hope to see him return to London next summer! The Houston Chronicle showcases a speedskater to watch in the lead-up to Sochi 2014. Also a great read, Chicago Tribune international sports columnist Philip Hersh's update regarding IOC President Jacques Rogge's delayed reaction to Osama bin Laden's death. Happy reading on this happy Mother's Day.

Don We Now Our Sports Illustrated Apparel

Awesome news via the Associated Press: Sports Illustrated's new edition (on newsstands tomorrow) features Stephen Colbert in a U.S. Speedskating uniform!

As noted in previous posts, The Colbert Report and Colbert Nation recently rescued the national governing body for speedskating, raking in more than $250,000 in donations when another title sponsor pulled out of their arrangement.

Kudos to Colbert -- that photo cover is awesome, and I can't wait to read the sports media cover story. Bravo, SI, for celebrating Colbert's contributions to Vancouver 2010 and sport.

Photo via the Associated Press

Colbert Puts Canada On Notice

Apparently on last night's edition of The Colbert Report, Stephen Colbert invited U.S. Speedskater Joey Cheek to help put "Canadian Iceholes" (a.k.a. "syrup suckers!") ON NOTICE in an on-air retaliation for limited access to training options at the Richmond Olympic Oval in Greater Vancouver.

Though I missed the telecast, the online clip tells the tale and is punctuated by one rendition of the Canadian "national anthem" that brought down the house. Fun to see Colbert donning Cheek's gold medal from Torino.

Photo via this blog.

Ohno Skating Into Vancouver

USA Today's Vicki Michaelis had a good report this morning regarding Apolo Anton Ohno's preparations for Vancouver 2010. It would indeed be thrilling to see him skate victorious in Canada after witnessing his gold medal feat in Torino a couple of years back.

Speedskating is among my favorite Winter Games sports (both long and short track). After following Bonnie Blair and Dan Jansen during the late 1980s and 1990s, interest waned until experiencing the Olympic Speedskating Ovals, first in the Milwaukee suburb of West Allis, Wis., home of the Pettit National Ice Center, and the 2002 Olympic speedskating venue (the Utah Olympic Oval) around Salt Lake City (a curiously simple venue by comparison to the training facility up North).

During travels to Chicago for work this past week, I drove past the Pettit Center a few times and was surprised (well, maybe not that surprised) to spot a giant inflated pumpkin -- some sort of temporary Halloween superstore -- across the parking lot from the front door to the rink. One must wonder whether there are costumes for young trick-or-treat fans who aspire to be Ohno, Jansen, Blair or other Olympic speedskating greats.