UWM’s Whitmore places 15th in men’s 500-meter speedskating

Former UWM student and Team USA speedskater Mitchell Whitmore posted the fastest American time but finished 15th in the Winter Olympics men’s 500-meter speedskating medal race on Feb. 19.

Whitmore’s time of 35.13 seconds marked his best finish in a Winter Olympics 500-meter race to date. In 2014 at Sochi he placed 27th and in 2010 at Vancouver he placed 37th.

Norway’s Havard Lorentzen won gold in this year’s 500-meter race, setting a new Olympic record of 34.41 seconds in the process.

Team USA speedskating has one medalist in Pyeongchang thus far; first-time Olympian John-Henry Krueger won silver in the men’s 1,000-meter short-track race.

Whitmore is also expected to compete in the 1,000-meter long-track race on Feb. 23. Team USA’s Shani Davis currently holds the world record in the event – 1:06.42 – set in Salt Lake City in 2009. Whitmore placed third in the Team USA 1,000-meter qualifier last month in Milwaukee.

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