1,000 metres, Women

In 2001, the 1000 m World Record had been broken three times. At a March World Cup, Chris Witty (USA) set the mark at 1:14.58. It was taken back by former record holder Monique Gabrecht-Enfeldt (Germany) at the World Championships a week later, lowering it to 1:14.13. Her compatriot Sabine Völker then again improved the time at World Cup on the Olympic ice, clocking 1:14.06. In addition to these women, defending champion Marianne Timmer (Netherlands) and Jennifer Rodriguez had also won World Cup races during the ongoing season.

Timmer was the first to beat 1:15, well below her Olympic Record from 1998. Next up was Witty, who faced 500 m champion Catriona Le May Doan. The Canadian went off very quickly, and was still leading at the bell. But while Le May slowed down in the final lap, Witty finished very quickly (28.90), and broke the 1:14 barrier for a world record of 1:13.83. Her final lap time was only beaten by Rodriguez in the next pair (28.61), but her first 600 m had been slower, and she ended with 1:14.24. Sabine Völker then seemed set to match Witty’s time, but narrowly missed it, coming home in 1:13.93. As Garbrecht also failed on the final lap, the title went to Witty. That came as a surprise, as Witty had needed to cut back on training all season. According to Witty, that was due to mononucleosis, but she later revealed a different reason. She had been sexually abused as a child by a family friend, and had experienced a lot of trouble dealing with this emotionally in the run-up to the Salt Lake Games.