Staff writer
NAGANO -- The Japanese crowd erupted in one overwhelming cheer, and his mother wept as Hiroyasu Shimizu set a new Olympic record in speedskating to take the gold medal. In the 35.59 seconds he took to complete his run, he became the first athlete to bring home a medal for the host country at the Nagano Winter Olympics. He also became the first-ever Japanese speedskater to strike gold.
The 162-cm speedster skated away with the men's 500-meter gold after clocking a combined time of 1 minute, 11.35 seconds. "I wanted to finish both legs in the top to win the gold medal rather than marking the best record in the total time," Shimizu said. "I made a perfect skate today."