Chad Hedrick

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Chad Hedrick (born April 17, 1977 in Spring, Texas) is an American inline speed skater and ice speed skater.

Hedrick revolutionized the inline speed skating world with his unique technique, called the double push or DP, now the standard skating technique for élite skaters. During his career he won 93 national championships and 50 world championships, as well as having a brand of inline skating wheels named after him.

After winning his 50th World Championship, in Oostende, Belgium, in 2002, he switched to ice speed skating after watching, on a television in a Las Vegas casino in 2002, fellow inline skater Derek Parra win a medal at the Salt Lake City Winter Olympics. In February 2004, a year and a half after he made his switch, Hedrick won the 2004 World Allround Speed Skating Championships, knocking more than a point of the world record points, reducing it to 150.478. On March 12, 2004, Hedrick won the gold medal in the 5,000 meters during the 2004 World Single Distance Championships, which were held Seoul, South Korea. In 2005 he successfully defended his 5,000m world title in Inzell, Germany. At the 2005 World Allround Speed Skating Championships he lost his title to Shani Davis. The current holder of the 1,500 meters world record, with a time of 1:42.78, and the 10,000m world record, with a time of 12:55.11, he is also the leader of the unofficial world ranking, the Adelskalender.

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The Texan raised the stakes for the Winter Olympics 2006 in Turin by proclaiming that he would equal Eric Heiden's record of five gold medals. On February 11, 2006 Hedrick won the gold medal at the 5,000m.

Hedrick caused controversy when he insisted Shani Davis, fellow American speed skater in the 1,000m race, should have participated in the men's pursuit, stating Davis's presence would have meant "a pretty sure gold," as well as stating Davis's absence was "tough to swallow" for him.

It should be noted that five-time gold medalist and Olympic-team physician, Eric Heiden, has publicly written that Shani Davis made the right choice in not participating in the team pursuit and thereby not jeopardizing his chances at a gold medal in his best event, the 1,000 meter race. However, on the day Davis announced that he would be unavailable, Heiden had also publicly written that Davis could have skated the pursuit event.

Davis eventually won the gold medal in the 1,000m race, while Hedrick finished sixth. In the 1,500 meter race, Davis won the silver medal, while Hedrick won the bronze. Hedrick also added a silver medal in the 10,000m to his Olympic tally, and with three medals, became only the third American ever to win three medals in a single Winter Olympics.

On March 5, 2006, Hedrick won a 1,500m race in the Netherlands and captured the 2006 World Cup title in the event. Shani Davis finished second in the race and finished in fourth place overall in the World Cup rankings. Two weeks later, Hedrick participated in the World Allround Championships in Calgary, aiming to take back the title he lost to Davis in 2005. On the fourth and final distance, the 10,000 meter, Hedrick needed to beat Davis by 8.32 seconds, but made a crucial mistake midway through the race; he turned into the inner lane instead of his scheduled outer, and though he realised his mistake quickly, he was motioned off some laps later.

Off the ice, Hedrick is a regular in the Dutch tabloid press, where speed skaters are celebrities, and has been called the "Paris Hilton of Speed Skating" for his active nightlife.

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Records in roller sports (speedskating)

National roller skating record in the 3,000 meters relay race (1993)
National inline skating record in the 5,000 meters relay race (1998)
National inline skating record in the 3,000 meters male-female relay race (1998)
National inline skating record in the 1,500 meters race (1996)
National outdoor track record in the 1,000 and 1,500 meters races (1999 and 1998 respectively)
National outdoor track record in the 15,000 meters race (1998)
National outdoor road record in the 500 and 1,000 meters races (2001)
National outdoor road record in the 1,500 meters race (1998)
National outdoor road record in the 10,000 meters race (2001)
World outdoor road record in the 1,500 meters race (1999)
World outdoor road record in the 10,000 meters race (1996)
World outdoor road record in the 15,000 meters race (2000)

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