 すっかり御無沙汰の Chad さんですが、ゴルフの腕前はハンデ１１〜１２だそうです。何と！オリンピック後にホールインワンも出したそうで、そんなインタビューがウェブに掲載されていたのでＵＰします。もー、インラインからは遠い人になってしまったような印象はぬぐえません。
18 HOLES WITH ...
Hedrick's golf not gold ... yet
Speedskating champ too busy to sharpen game
By DOUG PIKE
Chad Hedrick grew up in Spring, about as close to golf and as far from speedskating as a kid could get.
Always competitive, Hedrick was roller skating (at his parents' rink) at 2 and won his first national championship at 8. He won a world inline skating championship in 1994, and 10 years later, just 18 months after switching to ice skates, he won a world speedskating championship in Norway. At the 2006 Olympics in Torino, he won a gold, a silver and a bronze.
Hedrick, 29, spent so much of his childhood on skates that he had no time for anything else. He picked up golf clubs as an adult and fell immediately in love with the game.
This summer, Hedrick was in town for a charity event at WindRose Golf Club. On Monday, via phone from Olympic training headquarters in Salt Lake City, Hedrick went 18 holes (think of it as virtual reality) with the Chronicle.
How long have you played golf?
Only about 6 years.
How's your game?
Pretty mediocre.
What's your handicap?
About 11 or 12, but I have to take the whole winter off. I only get to play six months a year.
Do other family members play?
My dad always did, but I was never interested.
Does it bother you not to excel at golf as you do as a skater?
Yes. No matter what I do, I strive to be the best and work hard at it.
Do you practice your golf?
Yes, but I can't practice consistently, so it's the little things that hold me back. I'm not exactly Ben Crenshaw.
Do you get back to Texas as often as you'd like?
I don't get but about two to three months at home every year.
What do you miss most?
The sun.
What are your favorite courses here?
I like Lochinvar. And Carlton Woods, the Nicklaus course. WindRose is good. And Willow Creek.
What's the difference between playing in Salt Lake and playing at home?
Out here, we're playing at high altitude. You come home and think you'll knock the snot out of it, and the ball goes 20-30 yards shorter.
Do any of the other skaters there play?
Derek Parra (2002 gold and silver medalist) plays, and a couple more. Once it gets cold, we're too busy.
Ever been on a green "slick as ice"?
Out here, because of the mountains, you get a lot of greens that are really fast and difficult to read.
Ever had a hole-in-one?
Yes, eight months ago at Old Cypress Golf Club in Naples (Fla.).
That was a charity event for Special Olympics, wasn't it?
Yes, and it's really special to meet those athletes.
Would you trade an Olympic medal for another ace?
No. A few more people saw me win gold, although the hole-in-one was in front of about 15 people.
What do you admire about pro golfers?
Their patience, the way they work their way around a course. That's one of my weaknesses.
You know about playing for country. Why can't the U.S. win the Ryder Cup?
I actually went to the Ryder Cup this year. Americans just don't play well together. I saw signs that they didn't care, that some of them weren't there to win. That upset me.
Who is with you in your all-time foursome?
George (H.W.) Bush; I had lunch with him once. And Rich Beem; you'd expect these guys to be a different breed, but they act like normal human beings. And Eric Heiden, a cool guy and successful in anything he's touched. I'm attracted to people who are go-getters and like to reach for the sky.
doug.pike@chron.com (Posted : Oct. 11, 2006)
Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle
Houston Chronicle news: 18 holes with speedskater Chad Hedrick オリンピック後、長い休養を取っていたチャドがアイスリンクでスピードスケートに復帰。| Chad Hedrick shaking off the rust | | By Gary D'Amato (Posted October 22, 2006) | MILWAUKEE _ It has been a long time since Chad Hedrick showed up at a speedskating race willing to settle for anything but victories and track records.
Since he has been back training on the ice only six weeks and is still shaking off the rust from a five-month sabbatical after the 2006 Winter Olympics, however, he's going to cut himself some slack.
"I'm just not comfortable on my skates yet," Hedrick said after skating a relatively slow 500 meters in the U.S. Single-Distance Championships on Friday at the Pettit National Ice Center.
"It takes a lot of time on the ice to get comfortable on your edges and feel comfortable in the (racing) position," he said. "My legs aren't even close to 100 percent right now."
Hedrick will return to the podium sometime soon because, well, he's Chad Hedrick. The 29-year-old Texan won gold (5,000), silver (10,000) and bronze (1,500) medals at the Winter Games in February, completing a triumphant transition from inline racing to the ice.
But his performance in Italy fell short of his lofty standards. He was the favorite in the 10,000, his final race, but by then was exhausted from an overly ambitious five-race schedule and drained by the constant media attention.
"I feel like I'm smarter and I have a lot more experience than I did going into the Olympics," he said. "Next time I'll be able to prepare a little better and actually take one race at a time. Rather than going for five events I'll probably go for three events and focus more on them."
Hedrick's old coach, Bart Schouten, has taken a coaching job in Germany. His new coach is Chris Shelley, recently hired by U.S. Speedskating to coach the distance skaters.
"I'm with U.S. Speedskating and I have their complete support," said Hedrick, who trained outside the national program under Schouten. "Chris has brought a lot of new things to the program and we're really excited about it."
Hedrick showed up at the Pettit Center with no expectations. He skated just one of the two 500s and was timed in 38.20 seconds Friday, 2.3 seconds off Tucker Fredricks' winning time of 35.90.
Hedrick plans to skate the 5,000 on Saturday but not the 10,000 on Sunday.
"I'm just taking it one step at a time," he said. "You can't come out here after five months (off) and expect to do well. . . . I'm here to get a couple races under my belt and get ready for Nov. 12. That's our first World Cup race."
Fredricks, of Janesville, completed a two-race sweep of the 500. He was timed in 35.74 seconds Thursday. Brookfield native Kip Carpenter finished second in both races.
Waukesha native Elli Ochowicz won both women's 500s. Her time Friday was 40.21, faster than the 40.47 she posted Thursday.
Michael Blumel won the men's 1,500 in 1 minute 51.99 seconds and John Loquai was second in 1:52.97. Catherine Raney won the women's 1,500 in 2:03.71 and Maria Lamb was second in 2:04.12.
All of the winning times have been significantly slower than the Pettit Center records but that's to be expected this early in the season. Hedrick holds the Pettit record in the 5,000 (6:24.25) but isn't likely to break it today.
"This is my first fast race," he said of his 500. "My fastest lap I've done so far (in training) this year was 28 seconds. We were doing 25-second laps at the Olympics on slower ice."
In addition to the men's 5,000, the women's 3,000 will be contested on Saturday.
United States Olympic Committee: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
|
|
