Jeremy Wotherspoon, one of Canada’s greatest speedskaters, has announced his retirement at age 33. Although he received a silver medal in Nagano and holds the world record in the 500 meter event, the gold medal eluded him.

Even though I primarily root for the United States, in a way, I was hoping that Wotherspoon would win the gold this year. He’s such a great skater, and he’s been around for so long. I suppose that some things are not meant to be.

He plans on going to Germany next, and will coach sprinting at a speedskating academy in Germany. I wish him well.

Yahoo has more information about Wotherspoon’s retirement.

The 1998 games in Nagano saw a few changes, and had several spectacular moments.

Each Olympic sport is allowed to set the rules for professionalism in the Olympics, and in 1998, professional hockey players were allowed to compete. Although the United States and Canada were expected to dominate, neither one even medaled: Canada came in fourth, while the United States took sixth place.

Tara Lipinski won the gold medal in figure skating for the United States; she beat Sonja Henie’s record for being the youngest person to win a gold medal in an individual event. This was especially exciting for me, as one of my sorority sisters was an ice skater that trained with Lipinski.

The weather in Nagano affected the skiing schedules, and events had to be delayed (sounds like what’s going on in Vancouver right now).