Japanese Skater Takes Gold as Mom Cheers (February 11) Japan got its first-ever gold medal in speed skating on February 10 as Hiroyasu Shimizu set a new Olympic record and won the 500-meter sprint event. Beginning with the Nagano Games, skaters do the 500-meter race twice, starting once in the inside lane and once in the outside lane. On February 9, Shimizu set an Olympic record of 35.76 seconds; the next day he held on to first place and the gold medal by breaking the record again, skating half a kilometer in only 35.59 seconds. Shimizu was cheered on in the race by his mother, Tsueko, who later cried tears of joy as she watched him mount the podium to accept his Olympic medal. "He's done so well," she said, "to make it this far even though he's smaller than the other skaters. I want to tell him 'good job.'" In her hands Ms. Shimizu held a picture of Hitoshi, Hiroyasu's father, who passed away when the skating champ was a high school junior. After the award ceremony, Shimizu took his victory lap. When he saw his mother in the stands, his face turned red and he rubbed his eyes for a moment. It was the first time his mother had seen him cry since he was a little boy. Back then he used to cry because he hated going to kindergarten; now, she said, "he looks so large it's like he's a completely different person." Hiroyasu has always been a small person--he's only 161 centimeters (about 5'3") tall--and he has even suffered from asthma. "He's worked so hard to bring himself to where he is. I'm sure his father never would have expected to see him get a gold medal at the Olympics," said his mother as she fingered the pendant around her neck. It's made from a commemorative coin her son got at a competition when he was in college, and Tsueko wore it during his races this time to bring him luck. It seems to have worked quite well. (Shinano Mainichi Shimbun)

Shimizu celebrates after setting the Olympic record and winning the gold.

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