{"id":66463,"date":"2018-02-05T13:56:13","date_gmt":"2018-02-05T19:56:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/?p=66463"},"modified":"2018-02-05T13:56:13","modified_gmt":"2018-02-05T19:56:13","slug":"wily-speedskater-brian-hansen-took-a-different-approach-while-preparing-for-2018-winter-games","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wily-speedskater-brian-hansen-took-a-different-approach-while-preparing-for-2018-winter-games\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Wily’ speedskater Brian Hansen took a different approach while preparing for 2018 Winter Games"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Chris Kwiecinski<\/strong>
\nMedill Reports<\/em><\/p>\n

Those who know three-time Olympic speed-skater Brian Hansen have their own ways to describe the Glenview native.<\/p>\n

U.S. Speed Skating Long Track All-Round coach Tom Cushman\u2019s praise for Hansen was almost endless, referencing Hansen\u2019s attitude as a multi-year Olympian.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s no attitude, no arrogance,\u201d Cushman said of Hansen\u2019s personality.<\/p>\n

Olympic speed-skating teammate Mitch Whitmore, however, described Hansen as \u201cwily,\u201d especially when it comes to his hobbies.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s into a lot of crazy things, like surfing in lakes and Lake Michigan,\u201d Whitmore said.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The 27-year-old Hansen displayed this hobby last February after the 2017 world speed skating championships in Korea.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s like 20 degrees outside and he just went surfing,\u201d said Whitmore, who learned speed skating with Hansen at the Northbrook Speed Skating Club.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s a fun little kid.\u201d<\/p>\n

While Whitmore\u2019s \u201cwily\u201d description applies to Hansen\u2019s hobbies, it also describes how Hansen found his way back into speed skating.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s won a silver medal in the team pursuit event at Vancouver in 2010, and then did something speed skaters can almost never do: He took time off.<\/p>\n

Conditioning as a speed skater is a year-round affair. However, after the 2014 Winter Games, Hansen took two years off to finish his business degree from the University of Colorado-Boulder.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had the opportunity to kind of do something else, so to speak, and just get a new perspective on speed skating and also get outside of the sport for a moment,\u201d Hansen said.<\/p>\n

Taking time away from speed skating not only allowed Hansen to finish his schoolwork, but also to refocus on himself and his sport after he finished seventh in the 1,500-meter, seventh in the team pursuit and ninth in the 1,000-meter in Sochi.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Lehman (left) and Hansen (right) are both products of Chicago suburban skating clubs. (Chris Kwiecinski\/MEDILL)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

However, what Hansen did was more than just a simple break.<\/p>\n

During his two-year hiatus, Hansen forgot some key aspects of the sport. Some were as simple as what protein shake he would drink after a work out, while other parts were as important as how he would condition himself.<\/p>\n

Worst of all, forgetting how to condition meant Hansen was out of shape.<\/p>\n

To put Hansen\u2019s two years in perspective, the longest break Whitmore ever took from skating was six weeks. Even then, Whitmore said he was able to feel his conditioning slip.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen he first came back, he was a little lacking in his fitness level,\u201d Whitmore said. \u201cOnce this last summer got going, by the time we did our bike camp, he was super strong.\u201d<\/p>\n

To get back into skating shape, Hansen took up long-distance biking, a clever approach to conditioning, that almost matches his wily hobby of lake surfing.<\/p>\n

Cushman said the speed-skating team uses biking as a conditioning routine because of the specific focus it has on a skater\u2019s lower body.<\/p>\n

He said biking works out a skater\u2019s legs \u201cnot exactly like skating does, but in a similar way.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hansen said he and his workout partners, fellow Team USA speed skater Jeffery Swider-Peltz and fellow 2018 Olympian Emery Lehman, would start from Milwaukee and bike to Chicago, Madison, Sheboygan and Devil\u2019s Lake.<\/p>\n

Hansen was realistic about his training. Some distances, such as the 95-mile ride from Milwaukee to Chicago, would force Hansen and his group to stop and pick up where they left off.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat approach was just more about just trying to find a way to enjoy training,\u201d Hansen said. \u201cNot make it so perfect, but just enjoy every day.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Cushman, who has been coaching the speed-skating team since June 2014, also said Hansen had to adjust how he biked due to a back injury he suffered when he returned to skating.<\/p>\n

Hansen would use adjusted handles and sit differently on his bike to aid his recovery, while conditioning his body to where it needed to be.<\/p>\n

But the distance never bothered Hansen, as he chose \u201call the best roads that you can ride in the area, with the biggest hills and the most beautiful lakes.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat approach was just more about just trying to find a way to enjoy training,\u201d Hansen said. \u201cNot make it so perfect, but just enjoy every day.\u201d<\/p>\n

Making training enjoyable took the place of the strict regimented routines that Hansen forgot when he took his sabbatical.<\/p>\n

While he did re-learn some of his lost specifics, Hansen admitted there are other aspects he simply forgot.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s so many details and technical elements to this sport,\u201d Hansen said. \u201cIt\u2019s something you\u2019d never think about when you were out of the sport.\u201d<\/p>\n

Heading into the 2018 Winter Games, Hansen has qualified for the 1,500-meter race as well as the team-pursuit race. Racing with him in the team pursuit are Lehman and Joey Mantia.<\/p>\n

Lehman, who\u2019s taken the spot vacated by five-time Olympian Shani Davis in the team pursuit and competing in his second Olympics, said Hansen\u2019s experience helps him improve as a skater.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s like probably one of the best all-rounders we have right now,\u201d the 21-year-old Lehman said of Hansen. \u201cTo have him on the team, and him having won a silver medal in this event in 2010 is great.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"
Emery Lehman (front), Joey Mantia (middle) and Brian Hansen (back) make up the 2018 U.S. team pursuit squad.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Cushman said Hansen\u2019s reputation among the skaters, in both talent and behavior, precedes him.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s just so much respect for Brian,\u201d Cushman said. \u201cWhen he started skating again, everyone just knew: \u2018okay, there\u2019s one skater that\u2019s on the Olympic team.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Even with added motivation of trying to earn a second Olympic medal, Hansen isn\u2019t expecting to end up on the podium in South Korea. Instead, Hansen will gauge his success on his individual performance.<\/p>\n

\u201cOn one hand, I don\u2019t have the results that I did going into 2014, but I still have hopes that maybe I can get there,\u201d Hansen said.<\/p>\n

Brian Hansen (left) and Emery Lehman (right) chat with a coach during an open practice at the Petit National Ice Center. (Chris Kwiecinski\/MEDILL)<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Chris Kwiecinski Medill Reports Those who know three-time Olympic speed-skater Brian Hansen have their own ways to describe the Glenview native. U.S. Speed Skating Long Track All-Round coach Tom Cushman\u2019s praise for Hansen was almost endless, referencing Hansen\u2019s attitude as a multi-year Olympian. \u201cThere\u2019s no attitude, no arrogance,\u201d Cushman said of Hansen\u2019s personality. Olympic […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":455,"featured_media":65966,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31,3987],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-66463","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports","category-winter-2018"],"yoast_head":"\n'Wily' speedskater Brian Hansen took a different approach while preparing for 2018 Winter Games - Medill Reports Chicago<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wily-speedskater-brian-hansen-took-a-different-approach-while-preparing-for-2018-winter-games\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"'Wily' speedskater Brian Hansen took a different approach while preparing for 2018 Winter Games - Medill Reports Chicago\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Chris Kwiecinski Medill Reports Those who know three-time Olympic speed-skater Brian Hansen have their own ways to describe the Glenview native. U.S. Speed Skating Long Track All-Round coach Tom Cushman\u2019s praise for Hansen was almost endless, referencing Hansen\u2019s attitude as a multi-year Olympian. \u201cThere\u2019s no attitude, no arrogance,\u201d Cushman said of Hansen\u2019s personality. 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