Winter Olympics: Late starter to speed skating hoping for quick finish

Shane Dobbin is between jobs right now. But any fretting over that can wait until later.

This weekend, the Palmerston North speed skater fulfills his dream of competing at a Winter Olympics, kicking off New Zealand's campaign.

He'll be skating in the 5000m, a one-off race against the clock. His preferred distance is the 10,000m, but a fall in a qualifying event counted him out of contention. Teammate Blake Skjellerup of Canterbury will do the longer distance, which comes at the end of the Games.

The last few months have been an interesting journey for Dobbin.

The 30-year-old was racing for a pro team in the Netherlands. Their requirements cut across the World Cup programme, through which racers would qualify for the Games. No Games, they said.

However Dobbin's team then went into "financial meltdown".

"They went bankrupt and that meant I was free to go to the World Cups. I guess you could say every dark cloud has a silver lining," he said.

At the five World Cups, Dobbin had four placings between ninth and 11th over 5000m. At Hamar in Norway on November 23, however, he fell in the only 10km qualifying race available. He was disqualified for crashing, even though he got up and finished the race.

The only way racers could make the Olympic 5000m-10,000m double was to finish in the top 10 on points. Dobbin was eighth at the time of the fall, but plunged to 19th with the tumble.

In the following two World Cup races he climbed back to 13th. A couple of weeks ago, Dobbin won the 10km at the North American Oceania champs, set three personal bests and two national records. No wonder he's regretting the untimely crash.

To take this story back a step, Dobbin was an inline skater, good enough to be four-times world champion. But he yearned for something new.

Dobbin vividly recalls watching the Winter Games speed skating at Salt Lake City eight years ago.

"I thought 'I could do that'," he said. Four years later, the Turin Games were on and it was "I should do that".

Shortly after, he made the switch. On reflection, he reckons he should have done it a couple of years earlier.

There were substantial technical adjustments to be made.

"You would assume they are similar sports but over the last 10 years inline has evolved into its own technical form."

The angle of the knees is different, stroke rate is slower and there's more pressure on the legs.

Apart from the odd fun trip to an ice rink when he was young, Dobbin was a complete novice on the ice.

"It was an eye-opener, put it that way. It was two months before I had my first crash, but back then I was never really confident enough to push off to proper skating speeds."

Dobbin fears his late start at the sport might hinder his prospects tomorrow morning, when he'll race 12 laps knowing his personal best of 6m 17s is a minimum requirement to push among the top finishers. The world mark stands at 6m 03s but that's unlikely to fall.

Dobbin knows he doesn't have the wealth of experience and knowledge of his leading rivals to fall back on.

He has been training with the American squad in Salt Lake City, including defending Olympic champion Chad Hedrick.

So what of tomorrow?

"I'm in the dark as to where I can get. I'm aiming for the top 10 and if I had a good day I definitely have the ability to do that. If I put everything together anything's possible."

Dobbin's sights are also on the 2014 Games in Sochi, Russia.

"I'll be 34 then, at the upper end an athlete can go [in the sport]. It will be my last major event, the culmination of everything and if I'm not in the medals there I'll feel I've wasted the last six years."

NEW ZEALAND ATHLETES WINTER GAMES SCHEDULE

NZ times - may vary due to weather
TV: All SS4 (channel 131), SS5 (132), SS6 (133), SS7 (134).

Tomorrow
9am: Shane Dobbin, 5000m skate
10am: Sarah Murphy, 7.5km biathlon

Tuesday
7am: Katie Calder, 10km cross country
9.30am: Ben Koons, 15km cross country

Wednesday
7.30am: Murphy, 10km biathlon

Thursday
10.05am: James Hamilton, Mitchell Brown, snowboarding halfpipe qualifying (semifinals 2.15pm, finals 4.15pm)
7.15am: Calder, cross country sprint qualifying (quarter-finals 9.30am; semifinals 10.30am; finals 10.45am)
7.40am: Koons, cross country sprint qualifying (quarters 9.55am; semis 10.30am; finals 10.55am

Friday
7am: Murphy, 15km biathlon
9.30am: Juliane Bray, Kendall Brown, Rebecca Sinclair, snowboarding halfpipe qualifying (semis 1pm; finals 3pm)
1pm: Tionette Stoddard, women's skeleton heats (also 2.10pm)
3.30pm: Ben Sandford, Iain Roberts, men's skeleton heats (also 5pm)

Saturday
8.30am: Ben Griffin, Tim Cafe, Super G
10am: Calder, 15km cross country
12.45pm: Stoddard, skeleton heat (also 1.55pm)
3.20pm: Sandford, Roberts, skeleton heat (also 4.50pm)

Feb 21
10.30am: Koons, 30km cross country

Feb 22
7am: Griffin, giant slalom first run (second run 10.45am)

Feb 24
7.30am: Mitchey Greig, skier cross qualifying (1/8 final 10am; quarters 10.33am; semifinals 10.52am; final 11.03am
8am: Blake Skjellerup, 10km skate