KEARNS, Utah ? KC Boutiette's Olympic speedskating career likely ended hours before protege Derek Parra won a surprising silver medal in the 5,000 meters Saturday.
Despite a back injury, Boutiette finished fifth and lowered his own American record before Parra went out and skated to a world-record time at the Utah Olympic Oval.
Parra's mark lasted about 20 minutes before Jochem Uytdehaage of the Netherlands eclipsed it for the gold medal.
Boutiette, 31, began speedskating in 1993 as a way to cross-train for inline skating. The five-time national inline champion from Tacoma, Wash., recruited inliners Parra, Jondon Trevena and future fiance Jennifer Rodriguez to join him on the ice.
Skating in the second pair of the day, Boutiette set the tone for the U.S. team when he lowered his own American record by nearly nine seconds.
The three-time Olympian crossed the finish line and shook a clenched right fist in the air.
"Way to go, Bootie," a fan shouted.
Boutiette churned through 12 1/2 laps on the 400-meter oval in 6 minutes, 22.97 seconds, bettering his old mark of 6:31.75. Parra later took the national record back with his time of 6:17.98.
"I said, 'The hell with it' and gave it everything at the beginning," Boutiette said. "I didn't think I was going to do that good."
Especially since he's been nursing a bad back he injured lifting weights last summer. He healed, only to re-aggravate his back in October.
The second injury led to lackluster performances at the U.S. trials in December, when he missed qualifying in the 1,500 meters by one-hundredth of a second. He needed a solid showing at a World Cup meet last month to make the Olympic team.
"I've been bitter about it. It was like somebody just ripped my spine out," he said.
But he was all smiles after his race.
"I tested myself and I achieved something that I've never achieved and that's what the Olympics are all about," he said.
"You can be so mad and so upset at yourself and then go there and skate like this and totally redeem everything that has happened over the last months."
Boutiette's faith in the 5-foot-4 Parra was rewarded when the shortest member of the U.S. men's team came up with the biggest finish on the opening day of speedskating.
Parra is the first former American inliner to win an Olympic medal. He said he probably wouldn't have tried speedskating if not for Boutiette.
"KC was the first legitimate (inline) skater who tried it and he had great success at it," Parra said.
Trevena finished 15th in the 5,000. He plans to retire to Fort Collins, Colo., to run his family's roller skating rink business.
"KC's been around for so long in this sport. I grew up skating with him on inlines. He's brought me to another level in my career," Trevena said. "We've been training so much together all our lives, it's going to be kind of weird when we're not together anymore."
Boutiette's fifth-place finish equaled his best showing since 1998 in the 1,500. A blistering start had him under world-record pace at 3,000 meters before he slowed.
"Mentally I was fighting with myself to try to keep it together," he said. "My tank was empty and it took everything just to get through the turns without falling down."
Boutiette didn't close the door on trying to make a fourth Olympic team in 2006, but next year he wants to compete in ice marathons in the Netherlands and learn to be a coach.
"If I'm skating in four years and I'm still doing marathons, I might as well try the Olympics one more time," he said. "If you've still got blades under your feet, there's no reason why you shouldn't give it a shot."
With his only race completed, Boutiette plans to focus on Rodriguez, who competes in the 3,000 on Sunday ? the first of her four races.
"I want to try to pull her around and get some speed," he said.
Rodriguez watched Boutiette's race at home and then the couple, who plan to marry in April caught up by phone.
"She's really proud of me," he said.