MAIN Sports Sports Stars Chad Hedrick

Chad Hedrick was born on April 17, 1977 in Spring, Texas.

Hedrick was already a world famous inline skater boasting 50 world championships in the sport when he switched to speed skating in 2002 with an eye toward competing in the Winter Olympic Games in Torino.

Only months later, Hedrick made headlines when he placed fifth in the 5000 m at the World Single Distance Championships.

In 2004, he won the U.S. National Championship in the 10,000 meters and the World Allround Championship. He was also the first non-Dutch skater to win the 5000-meter World Championships, six weeks after his Allround title.

He later received the Oscar Mathisen Memorial Trophy, an annual international award honoring the outstanding speedskating performance of the year.

In November 2005 he broke a world record in the 5000 m in the Calgary World Championship races to earn the title of world's fastest speed skater on the traditional Adelskalender rankings.

In December 2006, Hedrick also broke the world speedskating record in the 10,000 meters at the U.S. long track championships.

Hedrick stood as the only American able to skate five events at the Turin Olympic Games (like his predecessor, five time Olympic gold medal champ Eric Heiden) and ultimately took home a gold in the 5000m, a silver in the 10,000m and a bronze in the 1500m, coming in a distant 6th place in both the 1000m and the Team Pursuit.

In 2010, Hedrick was again a top Olympic hopeful at the Vancouver Winter games, where he took home his fourth Olympic medal when he won the bronze in the men's 1000 meter, losing to fellow American and gold medalist Shani Davis. He also later took the silver
silver in the USA team pursuit.

Off the ice, Hedrick is married to hometown sweetheart, Lynsey Adams, also of Spring, Texas. The couple celebrated the arrival of their first child, a girl named Hadley, in March 2009.

More about Chad Hedrick around the Web:

Chad Hedrick.com - The athlete's official site featuring a full bio, photos, stats and Olympic results, blog updates and personal details.

Chad Hedrick Fan Site - Busy online community with active message boards, photos, bio, information and links to articles and video clips.

Chad Hedrick - Team USA - Profile from the U.S. Olympic Committee including interesting facts, photos, quotes, related links to story articles & interviews.

also see -> Ice Skating | Olympic Speed Skating