Jeremy Wotherspoon facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Jeremy Wotherspoon

Wotherspoon at a World Cup speed skating event in Heerenveen, Netherlands
Personal information
Born	(1976-10-26) October 26, 1976 (age 48) Humboldt, Saskatchewan
Height	1.90 m
Weight	85 kg
Sport
Country	Canada
Sport	Speed skating
Medal record Men's speed skating Representing  Canada International speed skating competitions Event 1st 2nd 3rd Olympic Games 0 1 0 World Sprint Championships 4 4 1 World Single Distance Championships 4 3 3 Total 8 8 4 Olympic Games Silver 1998 Nagano 500 m World Sprint Championships Gold 1999 Calgary Sprint Gold 2000 Seoul Sprint Gold 2002 Hamar Sprint Gold 2003 Calgary Sprint Silver 1998 Berlin Sprint Silver 2004 Nagano Sprint Silver 2005 Salt Lake City Sprint Silver 2008 Heerenveen Sprint Bronze 2001 Inzell Sprint World Single Distance Championships Gold 2003 Berlin 500 m Gold 2004 Seoul 500 m Gold 2008 Nagano 500 m Gold 2001 Salt Lake City 1000 m Silver 2001 Salt Lake City 500 m Silver 1998 Calgary 1000 m Silver 2004 Seoul 1000 m Bronze 1998 Calgary 500 m Bronze 2000 Nagano 500 m Bronze 2005 Inzell 500 m

Jeremy Lee Wotherspoon, born on October 26, 1976, is a famous Canadian speed skater. Many people think he is one of the best sprint speed skaters ever!

In 2003, Jeremy became the most successful male skater in World Cup history. He won his 49th race that year. By the end of his career, he had an amazing 67 World Cup wins. These wins were in the 500-meter and 1,000-meter races.

Wotherspoon also broke the 500-meter world record three times. He broke the 1,000-meter world record seven times.

Skating Career Highlights

Starting Out in Speed Skating

Jeremy Wotherspoon was born in Humboldt, Saskatchewan. He grew up in Red Deer, Alberta. He first tried speed skating to get better at ice hockey. He took a power skating class to improve his skills.

At first, Jeremy did both short track and long track speed skating. He later decided to focus on long track. He quickly became a top junior skater. At age 17, he moved to Calgary to train with the Canadian national team. He started winning medals on the World Cup circuit in 1997.

Dominating Sprint Races

Jeremy was super good at sprint events. He held world records for both the 500-meter and 1,000-meter races. He won the World Sprint Champion title four times. He won these titles between 1999 and 2003. He also won the World Cup Overall Champion title 13 times. These were for the 500-meter and 1,000-meter distances.

Olympic Challenges

At the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Jeremy was expected to win gold. But he won a silver medal in the 500-meter race instead.

Four years later, at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, he had bad luck. He fell at the start of his 500-meter race. He finished 13th in the 1,000-meter event.

At the next Olympics in Turin in 2006, he didn't win a medal again. He placed 9th in the 500-meter and 11th in the 1,000-meter. After this, Jeremy was disappointed. He went to a quiet Norwegian island called Mausund to spend time alone.

Jeremy Wotherspoon at a World Cup event in Calgary.

Later Career and Retirement

After his time in Norway, Jeremy set a new 500-meter world record on November 9, 2007. Later, he hurt his arm during the 2008–09 World Cup season.

On December 27, 2009, Jeremy officially earned his spot for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. He competed in the 500-meter and 1,000-meter races. He finished 9th and 14th in those Olympic events.

Jeremy Wotherspoon announced he would retire from speed skating on December 6, 2009. He said he would retire after the Vancouver Olympics and the end of the 2010 season.

Coming Back to Skate

In June 2013, Jeremy announced he was returning to speed skating. He wanted to compete at the 2014 Winter Olympics. However, he didn't qualify for his best event, the 500-meter sprint. He was not chosen for Canada's Olympic team.

After Skating Career

After his first retirement in 2010, Jeremy became a coach. He coached at an academy in Inzell, Germany. He trained skaters from countries that didn't have their own coaches or training places.

After his 2014 comeback attempt, he went back to coaching. He then moved to Norway to work with a development team. In April 2016, Jeremy became the sprint coach for Norway's national team. He hoped to help Norway win Olympic medals in sprint events again.

Personal Life

Jeremy Wotherspoon was born in Humboldt, Saskatchewan. He grew up in Red Deer, Alberta. He is married to Kim Weger, who was also a Canadian speed skater and an Olympian in 2006. They have a daughter named Ella.

Skating Records

Personal Best Times

Jeremy Wotherspoon achieved some amazing personal best times in his career.

World Records Held

Jeremy Wotherspoon held many world records during his career.

Source: SpeedSkatingStats.com.

From 1997 to 2012, Jeremy Wotherspoon held the world record for the sprint combination. This is a total score from four races (two 500m and two 1000m) skated over two days. He broke his own record five times! His fastest combination score was 135.355 points in 2007. This was not an official world record, but it was still the best score until March 2019.

Also, until November 2015, Jeremy had skated the six fastest 400-meter laps ever. This was nearly six years after he retired! His fastest lap was 24.32 seconds in a 1000-meter race in 2007. In that lap, his average speed was about 59.21 kilometers per hour!

See also

In Spanish: Jeremy Wotherspoon para niños

• List of Canadian sports personalities