Q1: What are you thoughts on the race?
CHRIS WITTY: Before the race, I felt a little fatigued. I was a little shaky going to the line, so I thought ‘Relax, just focus on skating. Don’t think about anything else. Just have a good race and focus on technique.’ I had Catriona (Lemay Doan), so knowing that she’s so fast – obviously, after the 500 – I wanted to stick with her. It was the first time ever I went under 18 (seconds) on an opener, which was my goal this year. So I was real happy with that. The next lap I really don’t remember much. All I remember is coming out of the outer turn just before the bell and thinking ‘Wom, Catriona is right there.’ I didn’t know if I’d be that close to her, so I just relaxed and kept pushing and pushing. Then when I came out of the next turn, I chased her and I didn’t feel anything. On the last turn, I kind of felt my legs – they didn’t hurt; they were a little tired – but I didn’t feel any pain, so I kept pushing to the line and got a 1:13, which I was completely shocked.
Q2: Talk about the night when you found out you had mononucleosis.
CW: My coach told me. I wasn’t sure what he was going to tell me. He just told me that he wanted to talk about my blood test. He told me I had mono, and I was relieved because I knew something had to be wrong. This was the first time I went through the World Cup season and didn’t have any success. For about a half hour, we just sat in the room – me, Eric Heiden and my coach – and we just thought about what we can we do. And there really is nothing you can do but just rest and sleep and listen to your body. I was fine right then and then they left the room and I had about 20 minutes to myself and I didn’t know what to think. I was a month away from the Olympics and that was not what I wanted to hear. But as the night went on, I turned it around and told myself I have to work with this, I have to deal with it.
Q3: What was it like to train while you had mono?
CW: It was really frustrating. The whole summer I trained and was really strong, but when skating season started, I didn’t know what was going on. I couldn’t keep up anymore at workouts and I wasn’t recovering between efforts. I wasn’t even coming that close to my personal bests like everyone else was. I really didn’t know what it was. I thought it might be the altitude since I wasn’t used to being in the skating season at 7,000 feet. Even these last couple weeks, I had some good days and some bad days. The closer I came to my (Olympic) races, I had a lot more good days than I had bad days which was a good thing. I was happy just to be able to skate both 500s and not be too tired after the first day. Then just being able to skate the 1000 too, I thought a Top 10 would be great, and Top 5 I’d be really satisfied. I had no idea I would win a gold.
Q4:What were the bad days like?
CW: I’d feel tired all day. Some days I’d wake up and feel fresh, and then other days I’d wake up and wouldn’t want to do anything. I’d come to the rink and maybe skate two or three laps, maybe do two accelerations and then go home. Then I’d take the next day off. I didn’t do much. A lot of times my workout was a lot less than what most people would do for a warmup. I didn’t do a lot of speed work. I didn’t push myself hard unless the day was right. When I did push myself, the next day was an automatic rest day.
Q5: What were you hoping for today?
CW: Looking at my 500 time, I thought maybe a 1:14 if I’m lucky. I still had some pairs after me, so I didn’t know if that time would hold. Regardless, it was a dream race and it was all I could ask for today.
Q6: Are you healthy now?
CW: I think so. Two days before the 500, I was tired and I didn’t train. In the last week, I have had bad days, which I think is still an effect of the mono. I guess I’m still recovering from it. The last blood test showed I’m over the acute stage, but I have days where the energy is not there and I can’t train.
Q7: Did you ever let yourself cry (after learning of the mono)?
CW: I wanted to. I had that shaky kind of feeling where I wanted to cry. Then I just said ‘That’s stupid. Don’t do that. Just stay positive and work it out.’ I’ve been in ruts before. You can’t sit and worry about everything. You have to work it out and push your way through it. That’s sports. Everybody has something they have to overcome. There are always hurdles you have to get over.
Q8: Talk about the depth of the speed skating team.
CW: Since the Games started, our team has been so successful. It’s been really motivational to watch our team. We’ve got six medals – that’s amazing. I’m proud of our team. It’s been an emotional week just watching them race. I made sure I came to practice early just to watch the last few pairs because I knew there was going to be an American in there and I knew they were going to have a good race. I think we’ve done a great job, but we have a few more races I think we can still have success.
Q9: How much heart did it take or was it something extra that helped you today?
CW: I think it was all heart. I just saw Catriona in front of me and I was so happy to be that close to her. I chased her and chased her and chased her. I don’t know what pushed me through that. If there is something extra, it was definitely there today.
Q10: Were you happy you drew Catriona, and when do you realize you were still in the race?
CW: I was really happy to have Catriona. I was happy to have the inner lane. My fastest times have always come from the inner lanes. Catriona always is a great person to have because she gets me off the line. I think maybe two of the three times before that I set the world record I had Catriona with me. I couldn’t have asked for a better pair. When I got to the 600, with one lap to go, that’s when I knew (I was still in the race). I was right with her and I knew I still had a chance.
