Monday, February 11, 2002
Pride and joy
Klassen clan ecstatic Cindy bagged a bronze
By GREG Di CRESCE -- Winnipeg Sun
Cindy Klassen's mother Helga was so excited she couldn't come to the phone.
Her daughter had just won Canada's first medal of the 2002 Winter Games, a bronze in women's 3,000 metres long track speed skating, and the excitement was just too much for her to bear.
"It's incredible," Klassen's father Jake said moments after it was made official his 22-year-old daughter had won the bronze. "We're just so excited ... it's really hard to put into words how we feel. All I can say is she surprised us again."
Klassen's time of 3:58.97 obliterated her personal best and Canadian record of 4:02.42 set on the fast ice of the Utah Olympic Oval last year.
All three medallists in the event topped the former world record of 3:59.26 set in Calgary to reach the podium.
"Cindy's best races had gone back and forth between the 1,500m and the 3,000m, you could never be sure what she would be strongest in on a given day," said Jake during a phone interview from the family home in North Kildonan.
"We tried to get down there for the 3,000m but couldn't get the flights we wanted. We had planned to fly down to watch the race and then fly out ... Oh well, we'll be down there for her 1,000m and 1,500m races ... Maybe the best is yet to come."
And the Klassen family -- parents Helga and Jake, sisters Lisa, 17, and Faye, 14, and brother Carey, 20 -- have good reason to believe that.
Entering the Games, Cindy's best race was expected to be the 1,500m.
She holds the Canadian record of 1:55.08 at that distance, which isn't far off the world record of 1:54.38.
The 1,500m is slated to go on Feb. 20, and many pundits have picked the graduate of Mennonite Brethren Collegiate to win bronze.
"I think what helped her to do so well (yesterday) was that she was paired with such a strong skater (Germany's Claudia Pechstein, the eventual winner). It just pushed her to perform at her best," Jake said.
"And, you know, for the longest time we thought she had won silver ... Don't get me wrong, though, this is incredible, it's just unbelievable.
"The first thing I think I'll do when I see her is hug her."
HOCKEY ASPIRATIONS
Before Cindy took up speed skating seriously at age 18, she had dreamed of lacing 'em up for the women's Olympic hockey team.
Klassen even tried out for the Nagano team, only to be told they were going with veterans that year.
"I know that bothered her a lot and she felt they would never win the gold with that kind of approach, but that's all behind her now," Jake said. "She's got a medal of her own."
Klassen will also be competing in the 1,000m and 5,000m races.
2002 Games Long Track Speed Skating Coverage
