That Clapping You Hear Is for Le May Doan

Put Catriona Le May Doan in clapskates and everyone else might as well be wearing clamp skates.

The Canadian woman switched to the new, free-heel skates this season and suddenly, everybody was seeing a new side of her. Her backside.

They saw more of it Saturday at the Olympics in the second run of the women’s 500-meter race.

Result: Gold, Canada, the country’s first in speedskating. And silver too, as it turned out.

Skating an even stronger race than she had in Friday’s first run, Le May Doan finished in 38.21 seconds, setting another Olympic record, her second in two days, and beating teammate Susan Auch, who finished second again, having been runner-up to Bonnie Blair four years ago at Lillehammer, Norway.

Saturday’s time gave Le May Doan an aggregate time of 1:16.6, and it was her finishing kick that did the trick.

“I knew in the backstretch that as long as I relied on my powerful strides, I would have a good race,” she said. “Going into the last corner, I was pretty confident I was going to finish ahead.

“It was great to have Susan to race with. I was pretty nervous today, but I just prayed about the race and tried to do the best I can.”

After crossing the finish line--Auch was three-tenths of a second behind--the Canadians put their arms around each other and skated around, smiling, Le May Doan waving a Canadian flag back at a sea of Maple Leaf banners in the stands.

Japan’s Tomomi Okazaki was third and her teammate, Kyoko Shimazaki, was fourth, just as they had been going into the second run. Those were surprisingly strong performances by them, however, giving the home folks reason to celebrate.

Le May Doan, seventh last year in the World Cup standings, blossomed this season with the controversial new skates, winning five of six races, finishing second in the other and skating a world-record 37.55.

Her race Saturday was typical of what she has done all season.

Starting in the outside lane, she was beaten off the line by Auch and trailed the first 100 meters. But she shifted into passing gear after the lane change, caught Auch in the turn and steamed through the last 100 meters.

“I’m definitely proud of the medal, and of Canada,” she said.

American Chris Witty, the only U.S. skater with an outside chance at a medal after the first run, had hoped to jump up from sixth place but instead skated slower than she had Friday and dropped to 10th.

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MEDALISTS

Speedskating

WOMEN’S 500 METERS

Gold: Catronia Le May Doan, Canada

Silver: Susan Auch, Canada

Bronze: Tomomi Okazaki, Japan