Casey FITZRANDOLPH

Casey FitzRandolph had his first big international success in 1997 when he won two 1000 m World Cup races in Calgary and skated the second fastest 1,000 m ever. Although he hoped to medal at the 1998 Nagano Olympics, he had problems with the clap skates, and placed sixth and seventh in the 500 and 1,000, respectively. While he was a top sprinter on the World Cup circuit in the next few years, with several podium placements, he had no other World Cup wins coming into Salt Lake City, and was not favored. But he was helped in the 500 when Canadian favorite Jeremy Wotherspoon fell in the first race. FitzRandolph led after the first day with the second fastest 500 ever, 34.42, and hung on to narrowly defeat Hiroyasu Shimizu of Japan. FitzRandolph's two best finishes at the World Sprint Championships were second in 2002 and third in 1997, and he won a bronze in the 500 at the 2001 World Single Distance Championships.

Personal Bests: 500 – 34.42 (2002)/1:09.23 (2002); 1000 – 1:08.06 (2002); 1500 – 1:46.31 (2006); 3000 – 4:04.25 (2000); 5000 – 6:59.38 (2000); Sprint Combination – 138.770 (2005).