Editor's note: This is the fourth in a series of articles looking back on the 2002 Winter Games in conjunction with the event's 10-year anniversary.
KEARNS — Speedskater Casey FitzRandolph stood on the podium, listening to the national anthem, gold medal hanging around his neck letting his mind and heart race through a multitude of emotions that accompanied reaching a lifelong goal.
"It was the proverbial rabbit I had been chasing, for as long as I could remember," said FitzRandolph, who won the first U.S. gold in speedskating in the 500-meter race at the Utah Olympic Oval in Kearns on Feb. 11, 2002. "In terms of hard, concrete goal and dreams — that was it. This was the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow."
So as he stood there, he considered everything from where he'd come to where he might go next.
"Believe it or not, I had all of these emotions — gratitude, sentimental, excited, proud, 'What now?' " he said. "When I think back to the experience those same thoughts still come back to me. I had to redraw the game plan."
Now married with a son, Sawyer, 5, and a daughter, Cassidy, 3, FitzRandolph said he still misses the demands and rewards of life as a competitive athlete. He used to see former athletes having trouble adjusting to life after sports and he was not sympathetic.
"I always kind of thought, "Oh, come on, get a life'," he said as her prepared to take his son ice fishing near their Wisconsin home. "It's only one aspect of your life, so move on. The reality for me is that doing that is a real challenge."
He said that being a successful businessman, husband and father looks like he's adjusted well, but there are times he feels the pull of that life.
"I have a wonderful life," he said. "But I'd be lying if I swept some of my underlying feelings aside. The reality is that it's a major, major adjustment. Six years after I retired, I continue to deal with it."
While he loves the free time he has to take his own children ice skating and coach young athletes in the sport he loves, he still misses what being one of the top speedskaters in the world gave him.
"I have yet to find a substitute," he said. "It's a black and white measure of where you stand. The clock does not lie. And it's just you, nobody else. Whether you like it or not, you know where you stand in the world."
And for one day, he stood at the top.
"I felt thankful that I had a couple of good days on the right days," he said modestly. "Some of the best athletes in the world just don't put it together on the right days, and I was fortunate to be on the right side of 3/100ths of a second on that day."
email: adonaldson@desnews.com