Tucker finds gold in Russia

Peri Kinder January 26, 2009

Photo: Junko Kimura/Getty Images

Tucker Fredricks of the US competes in the Mens 500m during the ISU Single Distances Speed Skating Championships 2008 at Nagano Olympic Memorial Arena (M Wave) on March 7, 2008 in Nagano, Japan

January 26, 2009--Kolomma, Russia. It was a first-place finish in the Men's 500m as U.S. long track speedskating Olympian Tucker Fredricks (Janesville, WI) crossed the finish line with a time of 34.81 to edge out Japanese skater Keiichiro Nagashima by only .06 seconds. His win marks the first time Fredricks has finished on the podium during the 2008-2009 World Cup skating events.

"I finally got pretty healthy over the last few weeks and it started to come around," Fredricks said. "I'm really happy to win my first podium this season."

US Speedskating National Sprint Head Coach Ryan Shimabukuro was pleased with the performance, especially after Fredricks slipped in the 500m in the World Sprint Championships last weekend in Moscow.

"Tucker's confidence was high in Kolomna," Shimabukuro said. "He was focused on redeeming himself. He nailed his start this weekend and skated his strongest corners I've seen in over a year."

World Sprint Champion Shani Davis (Chicago, IL) was injured during the Kolomna World Cup event, cutting his right leg with his left blade during the 500m. Although he was forced to skip the 1000m race, Davis still leads in the Men's 1000m World Cup standings.

Nick Pearson (Vernon, WI) and Chris Needham (Belmont, MA) both finished in the top 15 in the Men's 1000m, and Heather Richardson (High Point, NC) and Jennifer Rodriguez (Miami, FL) also finished in the top 15 in the Ladies' 1000m.

Team USA is headed to Erfurt, Germany for the next event in the Essent ISU World Cup Speedskating Series which will be held on January 31 and February 1, 2009.

For more information, contact

Peri Kinder at pkinder@usspeedskating.org