HEDRICK WINS OLYMPIC BRONZE MEDAL in 1000m

RICHMOND, British Columbia – Americans returned to top form on Wednesday at the Olympics, as Shani Davis of the United States won a gold medal in the men’s 1,000-meter speedskating today at the Richmond Olympic Oval, and Chad Hedrick of Spring finished third. Skating in the 19th and final pair against Mun Joon of South Korea, Davis rebounded from a slow start to win the gold medal in 1:08.94. Hedrick was paired in the 16th pair with 500-meter gold medalist Mo Tae-Bum of South Korea. As expected, Mo led Hedrick by more than a second after the first 200 meters and kept the lead after 600 meters before Hedrick closed strong. Mo won the silver in 1:09.12, and Hedrick took the bronze in 1:09.32.

After a fiery Olympics four years ago in Torino,  Hedrick and Davis stood side-by-side during the awards presentation in Vancouver as they shared smiles and an American flag.   "Everything that Shani and I had in 2006 is behind us now," Hedrick said. "We're here, we're proud to represent our country, we're proud to put a few more medals on the table of the Americans."

Hedrick was never deterred by his slow start. Starting on the inner lane he was over a half second behind the 500m gold medalist from South Korea. In typical Hedrick fashion, he just kept chasing. He hit the 600m split still over a half second behind Mo's 600m split time of 41.75, but Hedrick kept grinding and began to close in on the South Korean. Mo would finish with a time of 1:09.12, but Hedrick used a strong final 400m to close to within .02 of Mo, and ultimately brought home the bronze medal. Mo, who won gold in the 500 two days ago, settled for silver this time, 18-hundreths behind Davis. Hedrick was next in 1:09.32.

Davis skated an impressive race in the last pairing, using a strong finish to become the first ever male to repeat as 1000m Olympic gold medalist. No man had won back-to-back Olympic 1,000m speedskating crowns and no man had won consecutive Olympic titles at any distance since Norway's Johann Olaf Koss did it at 1,500m in 1992 and 1994.

Davis pumped his fist in the air and slapped hands with the U.S. coaches on the backstretch.Then, as he coasted around near the finish line, Hedrick skated over to shake his hand firmly and pat him on the back several times. No hard feelings this time.

It was the fourth career medal for Hedrick, who won a medal of each color in Torino, but only managed a sixth place finish in the 1000m. It was a return to Olympic glory for Hedrick, who has said he struggled to find his motivation following the Torino Games. In Vancouver, a little trip back to the awards podium may be just inspiration he needed.

The Americans put all four skaters in the top 10 after being shut out of the medals through the first four events. Nick Pearson was seventh in 1:09.79, while Trevor Marsicano took 10th in 1:10.11.

Maybe the U.S. team benefited from the presence of Stephen Colbert, who was on hand to watch the speedskating events Wednesday night.

Stephen Colbert, who stepped in to sponsor the team with fan donations after the American program lost their main benefactor, made his first appearance at the oval in suburban Vancouver. The faux talk-show host met with several skaters before the event, wearing a red coat with "Assistant Sports Psychologist" emblazoned on the back.

Then he watched the U.S. claim its first two medals on the long track.

Next up for the men is Saturday's 1500m, a race in which Davis holds the world record but could get a strong challenge from Hedrick, the only skater to beat him at that distance during the World Cup season.

"With me not having as good of a start, I have to pretty much focus on the 1,500," Hedrick said. "This is a great sign for me, only losing by four-tenths in the 1,000 and knowing that Saturday is a longer race."