Speedskater Trevor Marsicano cuts to golden heart of the matter
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World champion Trevor Marsicano is flanked by Canada’s Denny Morrison, left, the silver medalist, and Chicago’s Shani Davis, the bronze medalist, in Friday’s 1,000 meters. (AP / The Canadian Press, Darryl Dyck)
By Philip Hersh
RICHMOND, Canada -- Three quick items from the World Single Distance Speedskating Championships (after all, this is about going fast):
1) New U.S. long track speedskating star Trevor Marsicano suffered a frightening injury as a 15-year-old short tracker in 2004. Marsicano said the inside of his right thigh was slashed so deeply by another skater’s blade that he could see the bone. He was told the cut caused him to lose half the blood volume in his body.
‘I was able to skate again in three months, but it took me a full year to get back to 100 percent physically and mentally,’’ Marsicano said.
Marsicano said that was not a factor in his decision to give up short track after the 2007 season.
‘I went on from there (the injury) to skate at the 2006 Olympic trials in short track (where he finished 12th),’’ Marsicano noted.
The switch in emphasis owed more to his success in the World Junior All-Around Championships in long track, where he won the 3,000 meters and finished third overall.
How much has he improved in the last year? Marsicano did not even compete in the 1,000 meters in 2008, and he won the event Friday at the World Single Distance Championships at the 2010 Olympic oval. He won a bronze medal in the 5,000 later Friday (‘I just hoped to make the top six’’) and had won a silver in the 1,500 Thursday.
‘The credit belongs to my coach, Paul Marchese,’’ Mariscano said. ‘He has been my coach for six years and he was able to get me back up there (after the injury).’’
They have had a long-distance relationship since last summer. Marchese lives in upstate New York, and Marsicano left there to train at the Pettit Center in Milwaukee when he decided to concentrate on long track.
‘That was the closest (long track) place to home,’’ Marsicano said of the reason for his move.
2) Chad Hedrick left for his home outside Houston as quickly as he could after finishing fourth Thursday in the 1,500 meters. Hedrick’s wife, Lynsey, is expecting the couple’s first child, a daughter whom they have named Hadley, and labor is to be induced by Monday at the latest. ‘It’s a lot bigger event than all this stuff right now,’’ Hedrick said, referring to the skating competition. After two down years, the 2006 Olympic champion at 5,000 meters has showed signs this season of regaining Olympic medal-contending form.
3) I am just going to throw this out there for you to mull over: Above the urinals at the 2010 Olympic speedskating oval in the Vancouver suburb of Richmond are signs reading, ‘Non Potable Water. Do Not Drink.’’ There are no such signs over the sinks.