Parra’s Story Is Inspiring to Others

When he began his post-Olympic whirlwind of fundraisers and talk shows, speedskater Derek Parra expected he’d smile a lot and talk about his improbable beginnings as an in-line roller skater in San Bernardino and his tenacious climb to the medal stand in Salt Lake City.

But instead of describing his 5,000-meter race, in which he surprisingly won a silver medal, or reminiscing about winning the 1,500 in a world-record time of 1 minute, 43.95 seconds, Parra found himself listening to his audience’s stories.

Time and again, everywhere he went, people told him they drew inspiration from knowing a stocky, 5-4, 140-pound Latino who grew up poor could become an Olympic champion in a winter sport he took up merely six years ago. They told him he hadn’t been alone out there, because their cheers had pushed him to the finish line.

“I never thought it was anybody’s dream but mine,” he said. “But total strangers, people I’ll never meet again, would tell me how I had changed their lives.

“Grandparents said they were sitting with their children and grandchildren and they saw me win, and now they believe in their dreams. Maybe their child didn’t think they could do something, but now they do. Maybe they were Hispanic or grew up in a part of the country where speedskating wasn’t a traditional sport. It really threw me off. I didn’t realize how many people were affected by what I did.”

Parra has handled his success, including a modeling appearance in Gap jeans ads, with refreshing grace. He speaks on behalf of the National Hispanic Press Foundation, which encourages education among Latinos, and established two scholarships for Latino students. He also returned to competition and finished the fall World Cup races ranked first in the 1,500.

Parra, 32, returned from Europe last week for a reunion with his wife, Tiffany, and their daughter, Mia, who will be a year old next week. They’ll soon leave their Florida home for an apartment near Salt Lake City so he can train for the U.S. championships later this month.

“I didn’t want to ask [Tiffany] if I should continue, and she didn’t want to ask me to stop,” he said. “She said, ‘Let’s give it a shot if you can be there for me and help me raise Mia.’ She’s given up so much for me.”

Competing at the 2006 Games “is in the back of my mind,” Parra said, but he’s not sure. “My goal is to try to become the overall world champion, which is four distances,” he said. “No one’s done that. No one’s been a roller skating world champion and speedskating world champion.

“I’m not special. I’m not a big, huge monster of a man. I couldn’t reach the Olympics in roller skating and switched to speedskating and all these wonderful things have happened. It’s like a dream I’m still living.”

Shuttle Diplomacy

Anaheim is a finalist to host the 2005 world championships of badminton, which have never taken place in the U.S.

David Simon, head of the Los Angeles Sports Council, said international badminton officials told him the council’s bid to hold the event at the Pond in late May or early June 2005 had been favorably received, but they told him little else.

“They sent a cryptic e-mail saying, ‘You’re on the short list but we can’t tell you who else is on it,’ ” he said. “The next championships are in Birmingham, England, in May of 2003 and there will be meetings in February to decide the 2005 event, so we’ll be in discussions with them.”

Simon believes the event would have wide appeal in Southern California. “The attraction of having it here is because it’s so popular in Asia and we have all kinds of Asian communities here,” he said. “And if we can get the word out, we think it would do well.”

Simon, whose group helped secure the 2003 World Gymnastics Championships at the Pond, attended this year’s gymnastics championships in Hungary to observe. “Hats off to the Hungarians for pulling it off on short notice,” he said. “There were no complaints at all.... After seeing what they did, I feel good about where we are.”

ESPN will televise the gymnastics championships Dec. 29 and Jan 2.

It’s in the Blood, Eh?

The U.S. junior national hockey team will have some familiar names when it competes at the world junior championships later this month in Halifax and Sydney, Canada.

The roster includes Patrick Eaves, son of NHL alum Mike Eaves; Eric Nystrom, son of former New York Islander standout Bobby Nystrom; Zach Parise, son of long-time NHL forward J.P. Parise; and Ryan Suter, son of 1980 U.S. Olympian Bob Suter and nephew of recently retired defenseman Gary Suter. At 17, Ryan Suter is the youngest on the team and is considered immensely promising.

If the U.S. team makes the semifinals, YES network will televise the games.

Here and There

Lenny Krayzelburg of Los Angeles, a three-time Olympic gold medalist, won the 100-meter backstroke at the U.S. Open swimming championships in Minneapolis in 55.09 seconds. Misty Hyman, competing in her first major meet since she had shoulder surgery and back problems, was third in the 100-meter butterfly in 1:01.79....Cal swimmer Natalie Coughlin and Australia’s Ian Thorpe were chosen female and male world swimmers of the year by Swimming World magazine. Thorpe became the first swimmer to win the award four times. It’s a first for Coughlin, 20.

More than 7,000 runners and walkers are expected to participate in the Pacific Shoreline Marathon, to be held Jan. 26 in Huntington Beach. Events include a marathon, half marathon, 5K run/walk and the Surf Kids Mile. Information: www.marathonrun.com.

Distance runner Deena Drossin of Mammoth Lakes was ranked first in the U.S. and sixth in the world in the 10,000 in the annual rankings of Track and Field News. UCLA alum Meb Keflezighi, also of Mammoth Lakes, was ranked first in the U.S. in the 10,000 and ninth in the world. He also ranked first in the U.S. at 5,000 meters.... Trevor Graham, coach of Marion Jones and Tim Montgomery, was chosen USATF’s coach of the year. He has coached Jones since 1997 and Montgomery since 1999.

Mark Grimmette and Brian Martin of the U.S., who share the top spot in World Cup luge standings with Patric Leitner and Alexander Resch of Germany, will try for their third consecutive medal today at Oberhof, Germany.