Chris Creveling

Last updated
Chris Creveling
Chris Creveling 2007 closeup.jpg
Chris Creveling wears a silver medal at the 2007 US Inline Championships medal ceremony.
Personal information
Born (1986-12-29) December 29, 1986 (age 37)
Flemington, New Jersey
Height5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) [1]
Weight154 lb (70 kg) [1]
Website https://web.archive.org/web/20140203180021/http://www.chriscreveling.com/
Sport
CountryFlag of the United States (23px).png  United States
Sport Speed skating
Coached byStephen Gough
Medal record
Men's short track speed skating
Representing the Flag of the United States (23px).png  United States
Olympic Games
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 2014 Sochi 5000 m relay
Inline World Championships
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg2004 Abruzzo, ItalyMen's relay

Christopher Creveling (born December 29, 1986) is an American short track speed skater who represented the United States at the 2014 Winter Olympics. Growing up, his family owned a roller rink and was highly involved in the sport of roller skating. Creveling followed in the footsteps of his older siblings, learning to skate as soon as he could walk. He was selected for the 2003 United States' Junior World roller skating team in 2003 and for the Senior World Team from 2004 to 2006. At the 2004 World Championships, he won a gold medal as part of the US relay team.

Contents

In 2007, Creveling switched from inline skating to ice speed skating in hopes of making the Olympics. He tried both long track and short track speed skating before settling on short track. Creveling finished 13th overall at the 2010 Olympic short track trials. After moving to Salt Lake City, Utah to train full-time, he made the World Cup Team in 2012. Creveling placed second overall at 2013 National Championships, and won the 1000 meters at the meet. He was the top finishing American at the 2013 World Championships.

At the 2014 Olympic Trials, Creveling placed second overall and was the only skater to beat J.R. Celski in any race. At the Olympics, he was eliminated in the first round of the 1500 meters and in the quarterfinals of the 1000 meters. He helped the United States to a silver medal in the 5000 meter relay to conclude his first Olympic Games. As of January 2014, Creveling holds the American record in the 1000 meters.

Early life

Christopher Creveling was born December 29, 1986, in Flemington, New Jersey, to father Ross and mother Christine (née Currie). [1] [2] He grew up in Kintnersville, Pennsylvania. [3] In 1960, his grandfather, Paul Pinkerton, founded the Frenchtown Roller Rink. [2] The rink, which is now run by Creveling's aunt and fourteen time national inline champion, Kay Pinkerton, had become the home of an elite inline skating team by the time Creveling was born. Like his siblings, Creveling began to skate as soon as he could walk. "[Speed skating is] all we did", recalls Ross Creveling. [4] The family spent much of their time on the road attending meets during Creveling's youth. [4]

In high school, Creveling ran cross country and played basketball, while competing at the international level in inline speed skating. [5] He graduated from Palisades High School in 2005. [3] He was offered a cross country college scholarship, but elected to continue with speed skating instead. [6]

Skating career

At age nine, Chris Creveling competed in his first inline speed skating event. Because of his late December birthday, he was the youngest kid in his age group, forcing him to work harder to keep up with the other kids. [4] As an inline speed skater, Creveling was selected for the United States' Junior World Team in 2003 and the Senior World Team three times from 2004 to 2006. [7] In 2004, he won a World Championship gold medal as part of United States' relay team. [6]

Creveling leads the way around a curve at the 2007 US Inline Outdoor National Championships. Chris Creveling and Justin Stelly 2007 Outdoor Nationals.jpg
Creveling leads the way around a curve at the 2007 US Inline Outdoor National Championships.

Following the example of many former teammates, Creveling joined the Wheels on Ice program to start transitioning to ice speed skating in 2007. [5] [8] "[I decided I was] finished with inline skating and had accomplished enough there," he recalled. "I set my sights on an Olympic medal. Seeing how many of my friends had crossed over opened my eyes and made me realize there's something bigger out there." [5] He moved to Salt Lake City, Utah, where he trained for both long track and short track speed skating. After a year, he concluded he was better suited for short track events. In 2009, he moved to Marquette, Michigan, home of the US Olympics Education Center, to continue training while also pursuing an education. [4] [8] He enrolled at Northern Michigan University, majoring in business finance. [8] Creveling participated in the 2010 Olympic Trials, finishing 13th overall. [3]

Facing budget constraints, the Olympics Education Center was closed. Creveling decided to drop out of school and move back to Salt Lake City to train full-time with the national team in 2012. [8] "My education was important to me, he remarked. "But I knew I needed to move to be with the fastest guys in order to qualify for the Olympics." [9] That fall, he won both time trials at the US Single Distance Championships and made the World Cup Team. [10] He won his first World Cup medal when the United States placed third in the 5000 meter relay at Quebec. [11] Creveling won the 1000 meters at the 2013 National Championships, and finished second overall at the event. [10] At the 2013 World Championships in Hungary, he was the top American finisher, placing 16th overall. [4] [10]

During the 2013–14 World Cup season, Creveling helped the United States to a silver (at Seoul) and two gold medals (at Shanghai and Kolomna). The team finished first in the overall World Cup standings for the first time ever. [11] At the 2014 Olympic Trials, he finished third in the 1500 meters after being disqualified in the second of two finals. [12] The next day, Creveling fell in the first round of the 500 meters and failed to place in the event. [6] On the final day of the Trials, he narrowly beat J.R. Celski in the first of two 1000 meter finals. "I really performed when it counted and felt like I just dominated the race. It couldn't have gone any better", he remarked. [5] It was the only race Celski lost during the trials. [13] Creveling finished second in the overall event point standings, securing a spot on the Olympic team. [3] He called it "the best day of my life." [6] Overall, he placed third for the meet. [11]

Creveling opened his Olympics on February 10 with fourth-place finish in his 1500-meter heat. [1] He failed to advance to the next round in that event, but on February 13 he made it out of the preliminary round of the 1000 meters with an easy second-place finish. He also skated in the semi-finals of the 5000 meter relay that day. Teammate Eduardo Alvarez fell in that race, but the United States advanced anyway when a judge ruled that Alvarez has illegally been interfered with by a South Korean skater. [14] After coming up short in the quarterfinals of the 1000 meters on February 15, Creveling skated the lead leg of the 5000 meter relay on February 21. He was able to skate around a crash in the first lap of the race that took down China and the Netherlands and slowed Kazakhstan. From there, he and his teammates battled it out with Russia, ultimately winning the silver medal with a time of 6:42.371. [1] [15] After the Olympics, he said the ice was "really bad" for short track speed skating, but called the overall experience "just unbelievable". [15]

Creveling is expected to compete in the World Championships from March 14–16. He said he probably won't make another Olympics, but has no plans to retire in the near future. [15]

Creveling (red) and Sebastian Cano (black) warm up before the 2007 American Cup/World Cup Trials. Chris Creveling and Sebastian Cano warm-up.jpg
Creveling (red) and Sebastian Cano (black) warm up before the 2007 American Cup/World Cup Trials.

As of January 2014, Creveling holds the American record in the 1000 meters with a time of 1.23.187. He says his ability to change speed and dictate pace during a race is his greatest strength on the ice. He is coached by Stephen Gough. [10] Like many of his teammates, Creveling has relied on donations from the public at GoFundMe. [16]

Personal life

Creveling's parents are now divorced. [2] His father owns a construction company in Martins Creek, Pennsylvania, while his mother works as a nurse in San Diego. [2] [17] Creveling is the youngest of four siblings. His sister, Tracy Todd, is the oldest, followed by his brother Patrick, and sister Chelsea. [2] [4] Like Chris Creveling, Patrick and Chelsea were both world-class inline skaters, representing the United States at World Cup and World Championship meets. [4] Patrick is now an inline skating coach. [1]

Longtime friend and Olympic teammate, Kyle Carr, also has ties to the Frenchtown Roller Rink. [5] Creveling met Carr when they were around three-years-old and the pair became friends at age nine or ten. "We spent a lot of time together at that point and just had fun racing together," Creveling recalled. "We didn’t take competing as a battle or anything. Just had laughs and enjoyed it." [4]

When he is not skating, Creveling likes to go cycling, hiking, and snowboarding. He also plays golf and Frisbee, and writes on his blog. [1] [10] He enjoys road trips and spending time on the beach with his family during the off-season. Creveling lists Steve Jobs as the most influential person in his life, saying Job's book inspired changes in his life. He follows a gluten-free diet. [10] In December 2012, he had LASIK surgery so that he could skate without contacts. He speaks German and Spanish in addition to English. [1]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Speed skating</span> Competitive form of ice skating

Speed skating is a competitive form of ice skating in which the competitors race each other in travelling a certain distance on skates. Types of speed skating are long-track speed skating, short-track speed skating, and marathon speed skating. In the Olympic Games, long-track speed skating is usually referred to as just "speed skating", while short-track speed skating is known as "short track". The International Skating Union (ISU), the governing body of competitive ice sports, refers to long track as "speed skating" and short track as "short track skating".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Apolo Ohno</span> American short track speed skater (born 1982)

Apolo Anton Ohno is an American retired short track speed skating competitor and an eight-time medalist in the Winter Olympics. Ohno is the most decorated American at the Winter Olympics and was inducted into the International Sports Hall of Fame in 2017 and the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame in 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chad Hedrick</span> American speed skater

Chad Hedrick is an American inline speed skater and ice speed skater. He was born in Spring, Texas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shani Davis</span> American speed skater

Shani Earl Davis is an American former speed skater.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">J. R. Celski</span> Short-track speed skater

John Robert "J. R." Celski is a retired American short track speed skater, three-time Olympian, and three-time medalist in the Winter Olympics. Celski has held a total of five combined Short Track World and Junior World Records throughout his career including the 500m and 5000m relay World Records as well as the 500m, 1000m and 3000m relay Junior World Records. Celski was a part of the team that broke and currently holds the World Record in the 5000m relay established in Shanghai, China on November 12, 2017.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Katherine Reutter</span> American speed skater (born 1988)

Katherine Reutter-Adamek is an American short track speed skater. She is a two-time medalist in the Winter Olympics, 2011 overall world silver medalist and the 2010–2011 overall ISU Short Track Speed Skating World Cup champion.

Kimberly Derrick is an American short track speed skater.

Simon Cho is a retired Korean American short track speed skater who was a member of the US Olympic Team for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. He is currently the head coach at Potomac Speed Skating Club. Since Cho has become head coach, Potomac Speed Skating Club has been one of the top ranked clubs in the United States with evidence pointing from their Short Track National Club Championship 2016–2017 in March 2017 and a back to back team championship performance at the Buffalo Short Track Championships on October 21–22, 2017.

Kim Dong-Sung is a South Korean former short track speed skater. He won a gold medal in 1000m race and silver medal in 5000m relay at the 1998 Winter Olympics. He has been a two-time Overall World Champion in 1997 and in 2002 and two-time Overall World Cup Champion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brittany Bowe</span> American speed skater

Brittany Starr Bowe is an American speed skater and former inline skater and basketball player. She has won eight gold, one silver, and two bronze medals from the world inline speedskating championships. From her junior years, she has another 21 world championship medals. She also has a gold medal from the combined sprint event in roller skating at the 2007 Pan American Games.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jonathan Garcia</span> American speed skater

Jonathan Garcia is an American speed skater. Garcia began his skating career as inline speed skater, winning his first national title in 2004. He represented the United States three times in the World Championships, winning a bronze medal in 2006. In 2007, he represented the United States at the Pan American Games before transitioning to short track speed skating on the ice.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kelly Gunther</span> American speed skater (born 1987)

Kelly Gunther is an American speed skater who participated in the 2014 Winter Olympics. She began roller skating at age six, briefly tried figure skating, then took up inline speed skating. As an inline skater, she won multiple World Championship gold medals on the United States relay team. In 2009, she transitioned to ice speed skating.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Emily Scott (speed skater)</span> American short track speed skater (born 1989)

Emily Scott is an American short track speed skater who competed at 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. As a young girl, Scott was a gymnast and roller skater. She discontinued gymnastics when it became too expensive, and took up inline speed skating. As an inline skater, she won five World Championship gold medals and set three national records.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eddy Alvarez</span> American speed skater and baseball player (born 1990)

Eduardo Cortes Alvarez is an American professional baseball infielder for the New York Mets of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Miami Marlins and Los Angeles Dodgers. Prior to his baseball career, he was a short track speed skater and baseball player who represented the United States and medaled at the 2014 Winter Olympics and 2020 Summer Olympics. He is the sixth athlete and third American ever to medal in both the Summer and Winter Olympics in different disciplines. After his MLB debut on August 5, 2020, Alvarez became the first Winter Olympics athlete and the first non-baseball Olympian since Jim Thorpe to play Major League Baseball. Only Alvarez and Jim Thorpe have played Major League Baseball and won an Olympic medal in another sport.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kyle Carr</span> American short track speed skater

Christopher Kyle Carr is an American short track speed skater who has qualified for the 2014 Winter Olympics. The son of a nationally ranked skater, Carr grew up roller skating. In 2001, he switched from inline speed skating to short track. While still in high school, he moved to Marquette, Michigan, to further his training.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jessica Smith (speed skater)</span> American short track speed skater and speed skater

Jessica Smith is an American long track speed skater and short track speed skater and former World Champion inline speed skater. As a young girl, Smith was involved in a variety of activities including ballet, modeling, roller skating, and ice hockey. She eventually settled on roller skating and made the United States' Junior World Inline Championships Team at age 12. She won 15 gold medals at the junior level before moving up the senior level at age 16. By 2007, Smith had collected 16 senior World Championships gold medals.

Erin Jackson is an American speed skater, roller derby player, and Olympic gold medalist. Jackson is the first Black woman to win a Winter Olympic gold medal in an individual sport. She qualified for The World Games 2017 in Wroclaw, Poland, where she competed in inline speed skating in various distances on road and track. She also qualified to compete in the 500 meters long track speed skating event at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John-Henry Krueger</span> Hungarian-American short-track speed skater

John-Henry Krueger is an American-born, naturalised Hungarian that has represented both countries in his sporting events in short track speed skating. He was an American national champion in the 500-, 1,000-, and 1,500-meter events. He competed for the U.S. in the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang in all men's individual events and in the 5,000-meter team relay event, winning the silver medal in the men's 1,000-meter event. He left U.S. Speedskating after a history of tensions for the stated reason of unmet financial need, switching his allegiance to Hungary in 2018 in time to qualify for Olympic participation in 2022. He earned silver medals for Hungary at the European Championships in Gdansk in the 1,000-meter men's individual event and at the World Championships in Dordrecht in the 5,000-meter relay event. He is competing for Hungary in the 2022 Olympic Games in Beijing, where as of February 11, he had earned a bronze medal in the 2000-meter mixed relay.

Corinne Stoddard is an American short track speed skater. She represented the United States at the 2022 Winter Olympics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kimi Goetz</span> American speed skater (born 1994)

Kimi Goetz is an American speed skater who represented the United States at the 2022 Winter Olympics.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Athletes: Christopher Creveling". Sochi2014.com. Organizing Committee of the XXII Olympic Winter Games and XI Paralympic Winter Games of 2014 in Sochi. Archived from the original on March 12, 2014. Retrieved March 7, 2014.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Jim Deegan (January 7, 2014). "Chris Creveling goes from Hunterdon County roller rink to Olympics". The Express-Times. Lehigh Valley Live. Retrieved January 25, 2014.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "Chris Creveling, a Palisades High School graduate, qualifies for Winter Olympics in Sochi". The Express-Times. Lehigh Valley Live. January 5, 2014. Retrieved January 25, 2014.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Warren Cooper (January 11, 2014). "Olympic speed skaters – and hopefuls – get start at Frenchtown Roller Rink". Hunterdon County Democrat. NJN Publishing. Retrieved January 25, 2014.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 Jim Deegan (January 8, 2014). "Chris Creveling's goal: Olympic speedskating gold". The Express-Times. Lehigh Valley Live. Retrieved January 25, 2014.
  6. 1 2 3 4 Gary R. Blockus (January 10, 2014). "Creveling makes U.S. Olympic short track speedskating team". The Morning Call. Archived from the original on January 27, 2014. Retrieved January 26, 2014.
  7. ↑ "Speed Skating Team USA Archives". USA Roller Sports. January 20, 2014. Archived from the original on January 21, 2014. Retrieved January 26, 2014.
  8. 1 2 3 4 "About Chris Creveling". ChrisCreveling.com. Archived from the original on 2014-02-03. Retrieved January 26, 2014.
  9. ↑ Todd Thorpe (August 18, 2013). "Winter Olympics in focus for Kintnersville native, Palisades grad". PhillyBurbs.com. Archived from the original on January 26, 2014. Retrieved January 26, 2014.
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Christopher Creveling: Short Track Speedskating". US Speedskating. Retrieved January 26, 2014.
  11. 1 2 3 "Christopher's Profile". NBC Olympics. Retrieved January 26, 2014.
  12. ↑ "Celski and Smith earn short track berths". Sports Illustrated. AP. January 3, 2013. Archived from the original on January 26, 2014. Retrieved January 25, 2014.
  13. ↑ "J.R. Celski qualifies for 3rd event". ESPN. AP. January 5, 2014. Archived from the original on February 3, 2014. Retrieved January 25, 2014.
  14. ↑ "Creveling advances to medal contention in two events". The Morning Call. February 13, 2014. Archived from the original on March 8, 2014. Retrieved March 7, 2014.
  15. 1 2 3 Gary R. Blockus (March 1, 2014). "Q&A with Chris Creveling, silver medal winner in Sochi". The Morning Call. Archived from the original on March 8, 2014. Retrieved March 7, 2014.
  16. ↑ Scott Stump (July 15, 2013). "Olympic hopefuls crowd-fund to make it to Sochi". Today. Retrieved January 26, 2014.
  17. ↑ Jim Deegan (January 18, 2014). "Chris Creveling fundraiser to be held at Frenchtown Roller Rink to help family get to Olympics". The Express-Times. Lehigh Valley Live. Retrieved January 25, 2014.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.