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Fifteen-hundredths of a second.
That's all that separated Dan Jansen from a world record in the 500 meters Friday at the US Olympic Speedskating Time Trials.
Just 0.15. That's practically the blink of an eye.
Jansen skated the 500 in 36.59 seconds, 0.04 off his personal-best and 0.14 from tying Uwe-Jens Mey's world mark of 36.45. Jansen
"It was the best race I've ever skated," Jansen said Wednesday. "It wasn't the fastest, by four- hundredths, but it definitely was the best race of my life."
It also was the fastest 500 by an American on US ice, and it set a Wisconsin Olympic Ice Rink record, shattering the previous mark of 37.37 by Nick Thometz.
"It was the most awesome 500 I've ever seen," said US Olympic coach Peter Mueller of Mequon. "I've never seen a last 200 that good from anybody."
Jansen, 26, who lives in Greenfield, will get two more cracks at the 500, one each Friday and Saturday, in the time trials.
Is a world record possible? Don't Rule It Out
"I'm really not thinking of world records right now," said Jansen, whose training regimen is designed for him to peak at the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville,...