By Kim Sim, 15, Long Beach Polytechnic HS

“He races across the ice with the speed and determination of someone with far more than his six years of speed-skating experience. His talent has been compared to that of the most experienced of skaters. For 18-year-old Southern California native Rusty Smith, it’s been a story of hard work and dedication, of giving up a social life to become what he now is—a speed-skating phenomenon. The Ocean View High grad is ranked second in the United States and 12th in the world among short-track speed-skaters.
In Nagano, Smith’s Olympic experience ended quickly. He failed to move on to the second round of the 500-meter short-track race and the 5000-meter relay team was eliminated early. Smith won his first heat in the 1000-meters, but fell in the 500-meter race. However, the games were a valuable learning experience and he plans to compete again in the Winter Games in Salt Lake City in 2002.
Introduced to the sport by chance at the age of 12, he picked it up quickly and enjoyed it without knowing that one day he would be competing for an Olympic gold medal against top skaters from around the world. Idolizing speed-skates from different countries, in particular Japan’s Satrou Teraou, Smith has learned to cope with the startling reality of being away from family and friends in order to train. When he was 15, he left for Lake Placid, New York, and now he trains in Colorado Springs. He has been away from his parents and his older brother, JD, for nine to 10 months out of the year for the past four years.
He said, “I’m used to it now, but it was hard at first because you had to do everything yourself. My family made it easier for me—they were really supportive and were always right there whenever I needed them. Skating just became my life. I had my coach [Patrick Wentland] there the whole time and he was always helping me out. He’s like my second father.”
Instead of stressing about homework and exams, his life is full of intense practices, preparing for short-track competitions. “I’ve lost just about every bit of a social life,” said the 5’7″, 150-pound Smith, laughing. “I’ve also had to give up a lot of those things about being a kid. I barely went to high school and when I did, I was just doing work—I wasn’t involved with any of the school activities which was probably one of my biggest sacrifices.”
Speed-skating coach Wilma Boomstra, who works with many promising young skaters in the Southern California Speed Skating Association, called Smith “a perfect example for youths because if he has a goal in life, he’ll do whatever it takes to accomplish that goal. When he was younger, while the other kids goofed off in between practices, he was still skating because he wanted a chance to be in the Developmental Program [in Olympic Training Center, Lake Placid, New York, 1993] so much. Rusty is a very determined and very focused skater.”

His achievements are impressive
Smith has compiled an impressive list of achievements, including a Junior National title, a silver medal performance at Junior World, placing third overall at Senior Nationals, finishing fourth overall in the World relay and triumphantly claiming second place at the United States Olympic trials. However, his most memorable moment was that of placing second at Junior World in January of 1997. In that performance, he had the best finish by a male American ever. “These competitions were very exciting, especially some of the more major ones,” he reflected. “It’s really nice to go out there, compete and have everyone recognize you as a really good skater. I like speed-skating because of the competition and the strategy—you always have to know what you’re going to do in advance and you’re constantly trying to figure out what the person in front of you or next to yo is going to do.”
With his balance, rhythm and drive, Smith’s dominance is truly overwhelming. He is one of those rare young athletic stars, the kind people look up to and Hollywood makes movies about. On top of being a world-class athlete, Smith is still a teen at heart. He loves to fix up his car, listen to R&B and rap music and watch his favorite movie, “Clerk,” a low-budget comedy that he recommends to anyone who wants a few laughs.
“You have to have a lot of fun, you need determination, and also a little bit of talent to succeed. Rusty definitely has that,” said Boomstra.
Being a speed skater comes with a hefty price tag. Expenses include travel, boots, skates ($1,500 each), goggles, helmets, training bikes, mountain bikes and road bikes for cross-training ($2,000 each), a heart monitor for workouts. Any contributions to Smith would be greatly appreciated and are tax-deductible. Make checks out to the Southern California Speed Skating Association. Send to: Pacific Sports Marketing Group, 18032 Lemon Drive, Suite C-334, Yorba Linda, CA 92886. “