Good morning,
Whitewater’s forecast for today calls for sunny skies with a high of twenty-six degrees.
At Washington Elementary today, a pet food drive continues, and at the Middle School, it’s Spirit Day.
The Wisconsin Historical Society notes that on this day in 2002
2002 – Verona Athlete Wins Gold Medal in 2002 Olympics
On this date Verona’s Casey FitzRandolph won a gold medal at the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympic Games in the Men’s 500 Meters. He began his career on the ice playing ice hockey and was inspired by Madison native Eric Heiden, an Olympic speed skater. FitzRandolph tried speed skating in his hockey skates and soon caught the attention of coaches in Wisconsin. He became an Olympian in 1998, when he placed sixth in the 500 meters and seventh in the 1000 at the Nagano Olympic Games. At the Salt Lake City Games he broke the olympic record in the 500 meters with a time of 1:09:23.
Over the years, as the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports, “Wisconsin has played key role in U.S. medal haul“:
The many contributions of Wisconsin athletes to the Winter Games is one of the great untold stories of the U.S. Olympic movement. In speedskating alone, the state has produced 33 Olympians, starting with Milwaukee’s Delbert Lamb and Bob Peterson in 1936. Wisconsin also has produced Olympic hockey players, curlers, cross-country skiers and even ski jumpers.
“It is legendary,” said Alan Ashley, managing director of sport performance for the United States Olympic Committee. “It just shows the state and the people in the state are fired up about sports and are involved in sports that are part of the Winter Olympics program, and they’re excellent at it.”