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Chris Witty
- Five-time U.S. Olympian in speedskating (1994, 1998, 2002, 2006), earning three medals, and cycling (2000)
- Elected by her peers to carry the U.S. flag in the 2006 Olympic Winter Games Opening Ceremonies
- Ninth American to compete in both summer and winter Olympic Games
- 2002 Olympic champion at 1,000-meters with a world record; earned a silver (1000m) and bronze (1500m) in 1998
- Finished fifth in the 500-meter time trial at the 2000 Oympic Games in Sydney
- When she’s not training or competing, lends her time to the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) where she acts as an Athlete Ambassador.
- Abused by a family friend for seven years as a young child, is an inspiration for abused children across the country; Involved in fund-raising and awareness-raising campaigns for Good Touch, Bad Touch, an Atlanta based child abuse awareness program
- Grew up not wanting to become a speed skater, but rather a basketball player - as a Harlem Globetrotter
- Free-spirited individual who spent much of her time growing up riding dirt bikes and skateboarding with her three older brothers
- Makes her speed skating coach nervous by bouncing between speed skating and cycling, but she remains unfazed. "Aw, nine times out of 10 a cyclist just loses a little skin on the track - an
- Began speed skating at the age of nine, racing on a pair of figure skates
- In her first race, she beat her competition by such a margin that she was greeting her mother in the stands while the other kids were just finishing.
- Enjoys playing bass and acoustic guitar and driving her '81 Porsche. She also has aspirations of one day owning a Harley-Davidson.
- Outside of speed skating, spends time snowboarding, hanging out and traveling
- Has one good luck charm, a whale bone from New Zealand which was given to her by a friend
- Olympic idols are Carl Lewis, Florence Griffith-Joyner, Eric Heiden, Dan Jansen and Bonnie Blair
"To be able to lead the U.S. Team into the Opening Ceremonies is a great honor," said Witty, a three-time Olympic medalist. "My peers elected me, including people from my sport who are great athletes in their own right such as Derek Parra, Apolo Ohno, Shani Davis, Chad Hedrick. I'm touched that my own teammates elected me to this position. The U.S. Team won 34 medals in Salt Lake City at the 2002 Games and there are 39 of those medalists on this team [including men's and women's hockey, which has 17 returning medalists]. It's such an elite bunch of people and they are not only great athletes, but great individuals. I'm honored to represent them and I'm honored to represent our country.”
Related Links
Audio: Chris Witty discusses her selection as 2006 U.S. flag bearer
Q&A: Chris Witty discusses her two sports, rebel status and tattoos
Q&A: Gold medalist Chris Witty
Photo gallery: Olympic speedskater Chris Witty
Photo gallery: Chris Witty, gunning for number five
Video: Gold Medalist: 2002 Video: Interview montage...
Video: On staying relaxed using visualization...
Video: On track legend Billy Mills...
"I'm a pretty modest person and feel that a true champion is not only one that is victorious in sport, but is an all-around good person who stays true to themselves," Witty said after being elected U.S. Flagbearer for the 2006 Olympic Winter Games Opening Ceremonies. "I just want to say thank you to the entire U.S. Team. I'm honored just to have made this team. Now to lead them into Opening Ceremonies is very moving and I hope that I can return the honor by representing them well."
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Height: 5' 6
Born: 6/23/1975
Hometown: West Allis, Wis.
Resides: Park City, Utah
Sport: Speed Skating
Event: Long Track
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