Speedskater Witty Earns Bronze for U.S., Timmer Wins

Chris Witty brought the United States its first speedskating medal of the Winter Olympics on Monday.

Burdened by a poor performance in the 500 meters and expectations as heir to Bonnie Blair and Dan Jansen, she experienced a measure of relief by finishing third in the 1,500 meters. The emotion experienced by winner Marianne Timmer of the Netherlands was more on the order of disbelief.

Timmer, 23, surprised herself--”I think she surprised everyone,” Witty said--with a world-record performance that was 2 1/2 seconds faster than her career best. “I didn’t expect to be this good, maybe third to sixth,” Timmer said. “I couldn’t believe I skated that fast. I have to look more than once to make sure.

“To do it in the Olympics. . . .”

Timmer didn’t know how to say it except that it was really great.

Her time of 1 minute 57.58 seconds eclipsed Canadian Cantriona Le May Doan’s world mark of 1:57.87, set in November on Calgary ice considered much faster than that of Nagano’s M-Wave. The Netherlands has seven speedskating medals in these Games, equaling the career total of Germany’s legendary Gunda Niemann, who followed her gold in the 3,000 meters with a silver in the 1,500 and has a shot at an eighth Olympic medal in Friday’s 5,000 meters, expected to be her final race.

Niemann skated in the last pairing Monday, but she skated alone because Canadian Cindy Overland withdrew because of flu.

Overland’s withdrawal meant that Witty, who skated three pairings earlier and set a national record of 1:58.97, was assured of a medal. She didn’t know if it would be silver or bronze, depending on what Niemann did. Overland’s withdrawal also meant that Niemann was skating strictly against the clock, with no competitor in the other lane to push her, a tougher task.

She finished in 1:58.23, beating Witty but not Timmer.

“I’m really happy to have won a medal,” Niemann said. “Marianne had a miraculous time, and it wasn’t an optimal situation for me [skating alone].”

Witty, 22, was overjoyed.

“I think she’s had the whole Olympics on her shoulders,” U.S. distance coach Gerard Kemkers said. “So much is expected. She needed a confidence builder and got it.

“I think this sets her up for a real good race in the 1,000 [on Thursday]. She has a feel now for handling the Olympics.”

The 1,000 is Witty’s best distance. She was excited about the way she held her speed and stamina over the longer distance.

“I had some slips and mistakes the other day [finishing 10th in the 500],” she said. “To bring it back like this really gives me a lot of confidence. I was down, but I had a good day on the ice yesterday [in training] and I knew I had to put the bad behind me.”

Nevertheless, she said, “the 1,500 was not a race I expected to medal. I hoped to finish in the top five. I actually surprised myself a lot.

“I felt great technically and physically, and winning a medal is like having a dream come true.”

Her parents, Walter and Diane, and two of her three brothers were there to see it. Witty grew up and still lives in the blue collar town of West Allis, Wis. Her father, a welder, lost his job when the factory that manufactured tractors and sustained much of the city, shut down.

There were tough times, and the memories hit Witty as she spotted her parents while walking to the medal podium. She thought about the long road, she said, and how she had almost quit because her secondhand skates stopped fitting and there was no money to buy new ones.

Now the red-haired, freckle-faced free spirit, with two earrings in her left ear, a pierced naval and the tattoo of a Notre Dame Fighting Irishman on her hip [“It’s because I’m Irish and not because I’m a fan”], has a dual career as an Olympic skater and a cycling candidate for the Summer Games. The bronze could be a breakthrough as she attempts to translate her world sprint success to the Olympics. She is already thinking of 2002, competing in the Salt Lake City Olympics, and predicting “a lot of medals for a very young team that is going through a face lift” with the retirement of Blair and Jansen.

“Some of America has been really hard on us,” Witty said. “Dan and Bonnie are gone. People didn’t think we’d win a medal, but now we have a bronze and a good chance in the thousand. We have a very young team that’s doing well and will only get better.”

Jennifer Rodriguez, 21, had never had a top-10 finish before finishing eighth Monday. Becky Sundstrom, 21, was 12th.

Timmer? She wasn’t even ranked in the World Cup top 10 at 1,500 meters.

“She tends to be very stubborn,” Coach Peter Mueller said. “If she doesn’t like an idea, you can forget it. I’ve tried to tell her that she’s good enough to medal, but that she has to walk off the track totally spent. She can’t leave anything on the track. The last 10 days she’s been focused mentally. She’s had the talent. It was a great time to put everything together.”

Timmer was so spent that when Mueller put a celebratory bear hug on her she fell to the ice, seemingly dazed.

Her father, a sheep farmer in the small village of Sappemeer, and her mother, a hairdresser, were here to see their daughter’s stunner.

So was her boyfriend, Canadian speedskater Kevin Overland, who had won a bronze in the men’s 500 and who said Monday that he was hoping it would rub off.

What Timmer innocently said about Overland during a news conference brought laughter and caused her to blush and bury her face in her hands.

She was saying how Overland has proved to be someone she can communicate with during difficult times on the ice.

“We’re really comfortable with each other,” she said. “He’s someone I can go to if I want to talk--or do something else.”

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Medalists

Speedskating

Women’s 1,500 Meters

Gold: Marianne Timmer, Netherlands

Silver: Gunda Niemann-Stirnemann, Germany

Bronze: Chris Witty, U.S.