Opening Statement:
I know you guys all want to do sweet stories about Hallmark and chocolates and butterflies and all that, but I have a pretty unique experience and a pretty unique opportunity here. So I'm going to take advantage of it while I can.

I have been blessed by competing in the Olympics in speedskating. I am grateful that my family has supported me through all of this, my coaches, my friends and my country has supported me wholeheartedly. The United States Olympic Committee has been amazing. Without their support, none of the athletes who train and compete would be able to train and compete at this level.

I've always felt that if I ever did something big like this I wanted to be prepared to give something back. So ... I'm going to be donating the entire (Operation Gold) sum the USOC gives to me, which I think is around $25,000, I'm not sure, to the organization that Johann Olaf Koss either started or gave to in 1994. And I'm going to be asking all of the Olympic sponsors that give hundreds of millions of dollars if they will also maybe match my donation to a specific project.

So, as you know, there's been some media but not a ton, especially in the U.S., in the Darfur region of Sudan.  There has been tens and tens of thousands of people killed. My government has labeled it a genocide, and so I will be donating money specifically to refugees in Chad where there are over 60,000 children who have been displaced from their homes. And hopefully, if the region ever gets stabilized, hopefully from pressure through the United Nations or from the U.S. government or from some other agency, then we can go into Sudan and start programs for refugees there.

For me, the Olympics have been the greatest blessing. If I retired yesterday I would have gotten everything in the world from speedskating and from competing in the Olympics. So for me to walk away today with a gold medal is amazing. And the best way to say thanks that I can think of is to help somebody else, so I'm going to be donating my money. I'm going to try and talk to the Olympic sponsors, and if there's anyone in particular in the U.S. or Europe who's going to be reading these articles, if you'd like, check out Right To Play. You can check out their web site, it's (http://www.righttoplay.com/)."

Q1: Your mom and you became enthralled by speedskating by watching Koss perform in 1994. We were thinking it was the skating part, but could it be it's his combination of a person and athlete?

CHEEK: I realized after my last Olympics that there are so many amazing athletes, and they can do amazing things. I honestly hoped, and I worked everyday that maybe I could be one of those athletes. But I wasn't sure if I was. I know that not everyone can win a gold medal, but the things that he's done for other people has been an absolute inspiration for me and he lives his life in a manner that I hope to live my life.

It's surreal, honestly. I had coffee with him a couple days ago, and I'm sitting there looking at Johann Olaf Koss after I watched him, I guess 11, 12 years ago, win three gold medals in Lillehammer. Now I have an opportunity to do something similar. It's my hope that I can assist some people and walk in his large shoes.

Q2: How did you get interested in this cause?

CHEEK: Even before the Olympics I knew that I was gonna ... right after I won the world sprints. I thought about it for awhile. I felt, geeze, I might actually have a shot to do something at the Olympics and if I do, I want to make it meaningful. Because I knew how news cycles work, I've learned that there's a gold medalist tonight and tomorrow there's another gold medalist. So I can either take the time and gush about how wonderful I feel. Or I can use it for something productive.

Right To Play has been around for 10 years. I was also a little bit afraid, potentially if I had chosen another cause or whatever. Right To Play has been involved in Olympians. It's athlete driven, and if I had chosen another cause, it might have taken the legs out of them a little bit. They've worked very hard, they've raised a lot of money, opened offices and opened dialogue with governments all over the world, including the United States government. They've got a great program, and I believe what they're doing will help, especially with children.

Q3: How did you end up sitting down with Koss?

CHEEK: I had gone into the Right To Play office to ask them about their organization, specifically to ask about transparency. The reason being is that I think there are a lot of organizations where 50 cents of every dollar goes to the administration, and they're not actually doing that much good. So I wanted to see firsthand their published materials.

Again, I thought I had the chance to do this right after the world sprints, so I've been plotting a little bit in my head.

Q4: Was the big smile on your face after your first race because of this or because of your race?

CHEEK: We athletes are a superstitious group of people. I don't know how I skated that fast. I'm grateful that I did and I've always dreamt that I would skate that fast. I think on some level it is empowering to think of someone other than yourself. What I do ... I love what I do, it's a great job. I've seen the entire world and I've met amazing friends.

It's honestly a pretty ridiculous thing. I mean, I skate around the ice on tights, right? So, if you keep it in perspective, I've trained my whole life for this. It's not that big a deal. But because I've skated well, and because I have a few seconds of microphone time, I have the ability to hopefully raise some awareness. To raise some money. And hopefully, God willing, to put some kids on a path that I've been blessed with.

Q5: You're quitting skating after the Olympics and going to college next year. Have you decided where you're going?

CHEEK: I for sure decided I'm going to school, I'm not sure who will let me in. I'm sure someone will. Well, I hope someone will (laugh). I've applied to a bunch of schools.

Q6: You've talked about Harvard, is that a possibility?

CHEEK: Well, it turns out those guys won't let me in (laughs). It's kind of a blow to the confidence, but I've been out of school for almost 10 years so they were a little concerned that I wouldn't be able to read a sentence or write my name.

Q7: Apart from Harvard, where else did you apply. Second, have you considered going on one of the Right To Play trips?

CHEEK: I applied to several of the Ivy League schools .. Columbia, ah, well, now they've all slipped my mind so I'm sure they're not going to let me in (laughter). I also applied to Stanford on the west coast, Georgetown, NYU, University of North Carolina and Duke. I applied to a bunch of them. I took the shotgun approach. Like maybe you'll hit one if you shoot a lot.

I am absolutely planning on going. Actually I heard today, I went into the Right To Play office and talked to the people in there. I heard today that the situation in Chad is starting to destabilize, so as of right now it might not even be safe for aid workers or NGOs to go in. So it is my hope, as soon as it becomes a little more stable, that we can go in. I believe in two of the refugee villages they have Right To Play camps set up and coaches in there who are helping with health awareness and games and playing. I think there are over 60,000 children in those camps in all of them combined. I think there are six of them.

If anyone wants to go to Africa in a couple of months, I'll be happy to take any journalist interested in going. On their own dime of course, or their papers.

Q8: Was this once called Olympic Aid?

CHEEK: It was Olympic Aid and at some point in the last few years they changed their name to Right To Play. But originally it was Olympic Aid, and it's athlete-driven. I for sure was going to do something with them regardless. They were going to let me be an athlete ambassador. We'll petition the state department for continuation of funds and more programs.

Q9: You're donating your Operation Gold money from winning a medal, are you also donating the money you receive from sponsors?

CHEEK: I'm for sure going to donate whatever the USOC gives me, and I think that's $25,000 now. I've never won a gold medal so I don't know. As far as other sponsors, I have a few. I don't have that many so I'm not going to be getting a ton of bonus money anyway. None of us are wealthy, we're still amateur athletes. I still have four years of school, and if it's an Ivy League school, what is that, a quarter million bucks these days? So, I still have to pay for school with whatever I earn from this. But absolutely, I'm going to ask every one of my sponsors to at least match what I'm donating from the U.S. Olympic Committee.

NOTE: Cheek's sponsors are Nike and Oakley, sponsors of U.S. Speedskating are ADT and Qwest.

Q10: If you medal in the 1000 will you also donate that?

CHEEK: Same thing. If I win any money in the 1000 I'll do the exact same thing.

Q11: Do you feel you had to be more prepared for this race, knowing what you were going to do with the potential winnings?

CHEEK: A little risky, don't you think? I was a little concerned about it, too. I just wanted to be prepared if the stars aligned and God blessed me and gave me the races that I got. In fact, I went back and forth in my head because you have a lot of time in the Village laying in bed, looking up at the ceiling. I went back and forth many times saying, ' I don't want to jinx myself. I'm going to give it my best shot, I can help out no matter what. But if I do well, I want to have the opportunity to do this.' I was prepared for the best and if the worse had happened, I was prepared for that as well.

Q12: In your family, do you have a history of giving? Where does this come from in you?

CHEEK: My mom and dad have always tried to instill in my brother and me to be good people and to do things to help others and to try and be productive. Good intentions, we all know what the pathway to that is. You have to be smart about what you do as well. It's not just charity, it's trying to do something productive. Like athletics, you set a goal and you see it through, you try to accomplish it. My mom has always said she's more proud of what my friends say about me than any athletic accomplishment that I've ever won. That may change now with the gold medal, but...

Q13: With such a commanding lead, what exactly were you thinking?

CHEEK: I was just trying to stay relaxed. It's very dangerous for an athlete to get too easy on themselves. I knew I had a very big lead,and I knew I only had to skate an okay second race. But I wanted to make sure I didn't get too soft or too lazy because that's when you make mistakes. So I was trying to stay relaxed and focused.

Q14: When you met Johann, how did that measure up to the image you might have had with him in the last 10 years?

CHEEK: Well, I've met so many of my heros. I've met Eric Heiden. He's the greatest thing that's ever walked ... I've never met another human like that guy. He's unbelievable at everything he does. To be able to sit there and talk with (Koss), I just sort of felt ... right. I couldn't believe it. This last two or three months has been like a dream. It's so cliche. They say, 'oh I won the Olympics, it sounds like a dream.' But in the last two months, I almost broke a world record in the 1000, I won the world championships, I just won the last World Cup I skated, and now won the 500 meters in the Olympics. You just can't write this stuff (make this stuff up).