All the talk about Eric Heiden — I'd like to downplay that. |
Don't count Derek out. He's a fighter. He's one of the leaders of this team. |
Eric Heiden is a freak of nature. |
Every chance I get to step to the line and represent my country, I'm going to do it. I don't care if I have a race two days later, three days later ... this isn't a personal issue. I'm not going to be selfish to my teammates. |
For Americans at home and a lot of people around the world, they want to see a battle. |
He doesn't spend much time with us, I can put it that way. Everybody has their own deal. I'm not going to say whether it's right or wrong. |
He had a great skate today. That's all I have to say. |
He skated a great race. |
He went out and showed everybody. We were out there crying and giving each other hugs. I knew he had it inside him. |
He's doing what he has to do. You guys can determine if he's being selfish or not. |
I am just so glad that his whole family was able to make it and see this. I think I am just as excited as Calvin is, but this is his night. |
I built up the hype I guess. But I never said I'm going to be the next Eric Heiden. |
I came here for my own races. They asked me to do the team pursuit. It's not really my thing but for my team I will do it. I'm going to be my best. |
I came here to win. If you come here for any other reason than that, in my eyes you're wasting your time. Anything less than a win, second, fourth, eighth, 10th, 50th, it's all the same thing to me. |
I could feel Carl catching me. I decided with six laps to go that the best way was to rest a little bit, let him catch me, let him think he has me. Then I sprinted away from him on that one lap. |