Houston Sports - Chad Hedrick

Chad Hedrick

Born: April 17, 1977

Sport: Speed Skating (52-time Inline World Champion, 9 straight World Overall championships, 5-time Olympic medalist: 1 Gold, 2 Silver, 2 Bronze, 18 world records combined in roller skating and ice skating, Hall of Fame)

Last week I brought up the Olympics and pointed out that Houstonians typically handle the warm-weather events during the summer games better than those freezing temps of the winter games.  But contrary to popular opinion, there has been at least one shining example of success on the ice that has originated here.  It is interesting that his journey to Olympic gold actually began with his natural family surroundings, despite the climate being vastly different.  So this week let's take a dive into the story of Chad Hedrick, a talented and versatile athlete that not only reached the pinnacle of two different sports, but did it in two different thermostat settings.  And, to my knowledge, he remains the only person from the Houston metro area to claim an individual gold medal in the winter Olympics. 

A late-70s look at the Spring neighborhood where Chad Hedrick grew up

As a child of the late 70s, Chad Hedrick was almost instantly introduced to the world of skating, which was then experiencing a surge in popularity.  His parents, Paul and Wanda Hedrick, owned a roller rink in Spring, TX, a northern suburb of Houston, and both Chad and his sister Natalie spent significant amounts of their childhood time at the family business.  Before his son was even a year and a half old, Paul decided to strap a pair of skates onto the young man with the wheels locked, so Chad was effectively learning how to move in skates while he was still learning how to walk.  The wheels were gradually loosened over time, and by the time Hedrick was three years old he was already skating around the rink by himself, always trying to go as fast as possible.  At the age of 7, with dad coaching him, the young athlete attended his first national skating tournament as a speed skating competitor, and then at 8 he won it.  Two years later Chad had already visited 35 countries for skating competitions, and his career was well underway before he was even a teenager. 

When Chad Hedrick was 14 years old, new technology was introduced to the skating world in the form of inline rollerblades.  Determined to become the fastest skater in the world, Hedrick adopted the change and went pro at the age of 16 with a pair of corporate sponsors who provided him the kingly sum of $600/month while he was still attending Klein High School.  The key to his success was a technique he developed known as the "double push" that allowed him to increase speed with both legs without losing momentum during the glide portion of his movement.  In scientific terms, he was forcing compression on the wheels of his plant foot so that when he pushed off with the other foot he could generate thrust from both legs.  Hedrick claimed it was a natural style that he was never taught, and it led to more than 50 world titles over the course of a decade.  He even had a line of skating equipment that bore his name, but nobody outside of the sport of roller skating seemed to know anything about it, or him.  Hedrick had played ice hockey as a kid and watched a former inline skater named Derek Parra win a gold medal at the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics.  With all of these factors weighing on Hedrick he made the monumental decision in 2003 to leave Texas and the sport he dominated to move to Utah for training in ice speed skating. 

Nobody doubted the drive and athleticism that Chad Hedrick brought to the Olympic training center, but transfers from the inline sport had not yet been fully embraced.  Coaches and experts did not like his unorthodox style, which was seen as horrible technique.  And yet it was just one year later that Hedrick shocked his new sport by capturing the 2004 World Allround Speed Skating Championship, a four-race composite score event that displayed his skill in sprints and long-distance races.  In 2005 Hedrick became the first person to finish a 10,000 meter race in less than 13 minutes, seeing one of several of his world record marks thanks to his unique style.  Heading into the 2006 Torino Olympics, Hedrick boldly claimed he was aiming for Eric Heiden's record of five Olympic gold medals, which was an audacious statement for the oldest rookie on Team USA.  He ended up capturing three medals during his first Olympic experience, one of each color, and also came home with a new love - his girlfriend, Lynsey Adams, who he had met online just months before and had convinced to attend the events in Italy.  The pair were married in 2008 and have two daughters and son together.  

While preparing for the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, Chad Hedrick had another significant life change.  Although he had grown up in a Baptist home, church had long taken a back seat to his sport.  Lynsey insisted that it become part of their new family, and at that time Chad says the he finally found God.  Many in his sport noted Hedrick's calmer, more mature demeanor as he trained, even while maintaining his discipline and drive for excellence.  When 2010 finally arrived and Hedrick once again found himself competing with Team USA, however, he had lost much of his competitive advantage as the rest of the skating world adopted his style, even as he attempted a more traditional approach.  His results were mixed, winning a silver and bronze medal among his four events.  In a way, Hedrick did catch the legendary Eric Heiden as he became the second American man since Heiden to capture medals in five different Olympic speed skating events.  At the conclusion of the Vancouver games Hedrick retired from the sport after a relatively short but highly-decorated career on the ice.  In addition to now working in real estate in his hometown, Hedrick created the Double Push Academy and DP52 racing team to develop the next generation of Houston-based speed skaters.  He also coaches and volunteers with the Special Olympics, and this year will be honored with induction into both the National Speed Skating Hall of Fame and the Texas Sports Hall of Fame. 

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