Emery Lehman’s third Winter Olympics began in earnest Sunday, Feb. 6, with a surprise twist.
Oak Park’s resident Olympic speedskater, who had trained in Franklin Park for a time, was scheduled to compete in two events, the men’s 1,500 meters and team pursuit, at the 2022 Games. But when teammate Casey Dawson got sidelined by a positive COVID-19 test, Lehman filled in for him in the men’s 5,000 meters.
Lehman finished in 16th place. Marcia Lehman of Oak Park, his mother, noted Monday that was a challenging assignment.
“To put it in perspective, he’s been training for the 1,500 for the last few weeks,” Marcia Lehman said. “He had to jump in five days ago (to fill in for Dawson). There’s a huge difference between the 1,500 and 5,000.”
Emery Lehman competed in the 1,500-meter event Wednesday and came in 11th in a competitive field of 30 in which the gold medalist, the Netherlands’ Kjeld Nuis, set an Olympic record with a time of 1:43.55.
Lehman finished in 1:45.78, and the top U.S. skater was Joey Mantia with a 1:45.26.
“This is the most competitive race in speedskating by far,” Marcia Lehman said. “It’s a middle-distance race so a lot of skaters can do it. Eleventh is very, very good. He’s starting to ‘get’ this race.”
After a few more days of practice, Emery Lehman will join up to three teammates in the men’s team pursuit quarterfinals on Sunday, Feb. 13.
Lehman was the youngest-ever male speedskater for Team USA in the Olympics at age 17 in 2014 in Sochi. Now a savvy veteran at 25 pursuing a master’s degree in structural engineering, he will seek his first medal with the whole world watching. He had his best finish of eighth place in the team pursuit at Pyeongchang in 2018.
Lehman qualified for the two events at the Olympic speedskating trials in Milwaukee in the first week of January. He performed more tune-ups at US Speedskating’s training base in Salt Lake City prior to his flight to China and the mass transition of athletes’ body clocks at the Olympic Village.
Parents Marcia and Dave Lehman are Emery’s top cheerleaders back home.
Emery Lehman took time out from practice and other activities to participate in an email interview before the start of the Games. Here is an edited version:
How did you qualify for the Olympics via the trials in Milwaukee and other competition?
“I qualified in the 1,500 meters by placing second. The reason we had multiple spots in that event and other events is because of our performances at the World Cups in the fall. By having two skaters ranked in the top 20, we had an automatic two spots at the Games.
“But because our third skater was 21st, the ISU (International Skating Union) had the opportunity to give that spot to a country that was not represented yet. Eventually with spot reductions and everything, we did end up getting our third spot. The ISU has made the process a bit more complicated, favoring smaller countries getting spots in to have more countries represented at the Olympics. But other than that, it’s the same cutthroat process as every year and the competition is only getting tighter and faster.”
What are the challenges compared with past Olympic competition?
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“This Olympics I will just be battling myself, I think, going out there and executing the way I know I can, rather than getting overwhelmed or overexcited by the situation and giving a suboptimal performance. The team pursuit was really just needing to work as a team and we know things will turn out well.”
How is this year different from 2014 and 2018 in terms of your development as an Olympic athlete and speedskater?
“For me, personally I have had a much more successful World Cup season leading into the Olympics, which makes the Games a lot more exciting. Going in knowing I can really be a competitor in multiple events is a nice feeling, like I’ve earned.”
How are you feeling and how are practices going? How quickly did you adjust your body clock?
“Today is Day 5, (but) personally I am still adjusting. Not only are we adjusting to the 14-hour time difference, but since we’re racing late at night, we are trying to get into a rhythm of going to bed a little later and sleeping in a bit later and adjusting our meals accordingly.”
Are you practicing on the rink where the competition will be held?
“Yes, we are practicing on the race ice. The rink is probably the coolest and nicest rink I have ever skated in.”
Do you practice with other nations’ teams, and how are Team USA’s chances looking?
“We practice with whomever may happen to be training in that session. They are all essentially open sessions. Everyone from the U.S. has been looking very good and I’m very excited to see how the team will do.”
How is this year different from 2014 and 2018 because of the changes COVID has caused?
“The environment is a bit different. People are still being social at times and have the Olympic spirit. But at the same time COVID has put a bit of a damper on things. I think everyone is just a little scared to get it and not be able to compete.”
Are they testing you for COVID often?
“Yes, we get tested daily with a throat swab.”
What are the living conditions like for the athletes, given COVID?
“Everything is pretty strict, but nothing we haven’t been used to before we left. Typical things like wearing your mask at all times, daily COVID test, a daily health monitoring check on our phones, and we take our temperature and sanitize our hands when we enter almost any building. Other than that, it feels like pretty normal conditions under the circumstances.”
How roomy are the accommodations, compared with other competitions and trials?
“The athlete residences are very similar to Korea. We have a couch and TV and have done some decorating … there are five of us in the (suite), each having our own rooms and a pretty large common space.”
Can you eat with your teammates?
“Yeah, we can eat with our teammates, but we are separated by clear plastic dividers, kind of like a little cubicle or standardized testing unit.”
The NBC television network posted information on how to watch the Olympic speedskating events here.