Oak Park's Lehman struggles to repeat speedskating success
PYEONGCHANG, South Korea - After finishing 16th at Sochi four years ago, Oak Park native Emery Lehman's 21st place finish in men's 5000 meter speedskating at the Winter Olympics on Sunday night was both disappointing and surprising.
A total of 22 athletes competed in the 5000 meter race, and Emery was the only skater to represent the U.S. Speedskating team. He finished with a time of 6 minutes 31.16 seconds, lagging over a second behind Andrea Giovannini from Italy and more than 21 seconds behind the winner.
Considering Emery had been training in Pyeongchang with similar routines and facility as those as his training center in the Milwaukee Pettit National Ice Center, there were few explanations for his unsatisfying performance.
"I'd say the ice is very similar to the one in Milwaukee and all my lap times throughout the week were similar to what I was doing in Milwaukee," Lehman said. "Ice was good, preparation was good - it was just on me to skate better."
But his time for the race wasn't close to those he saw back in Milwaukee. At the Pettit National Ice Center, Emery usually skates between 6 minutes 27 and 33 seconds. He won the 5000 meter race at the U.S. Olympic long-track speedskating trials with a time of 6 minutes 27.90 seconds.
"This race was definitely on the slower end of what I was hoping for," Lehman said.
While Emery liked his strong start, he slowly lost his pace as the laps circled.
"I couldn't get comfortable and the early part of the race was good, but I couldn't relax into it," Lehman said.
Next up for Emery is the team pursuit race, which includes a three-man team with Joey Mantia and Glenview native Brian Hansen. he men's team pursuit quarterfinals will begin on Feb. 18.
"If one of my races have to be bad, I would definitely be OK with the 5000 and go into team pursuit more clear-headed," Lehman said.
Men's 5000
1. Sven Kramer, Netherlands, 6:09.76.
2. Ted-Jan Bloemen, Canada, 6:11.616.
3. Sverre Lunde Pedersen, Norway, 6:11.618.
4. Peter Michael, New Zealand, 6:14.07.
5. Lee Seung-Hoon, South Korea, 6:14.15.
6. Bart Swings, Belgium, 6:14.57.
7. Jan Blokhuijsen, Netherlands, 6:14.75.
8. Nicola Tumolero, Italy, 6:15.48.
U.S. finisher
21. Emery Lehman, United States, 6:31.16.
• Anna Kook is a graduate student at Northwestern University Medill School of Journalism, with an interest in international and political reporting. In addition to covering the 2018 Winter Games, she also has worked for AJ+, CNN, Voice of America and the Cornell Daily Sun. Originally from Seoul, South Korea, she spent most of her time growing up in Singapore. Follow her on Twitter @ annakook.