Travis Jayner of Riverview has big weekend ahead

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By Sean Hatchard
Times & Transcript Staff

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VANCOUVER - When Travis Jayner skates onto the Pacific Coliseum ice here today for a World Cup short-track speed skating event, the Riverview native will surely be thinking about the 2010 Winter Olympics.

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Travis Jayner trains with the U.S. speedskating team at the Utah Olympic Oval in Kearns, Utah.

The second stop of the World Cup short-track circuit season will attract 180 athletes from 25 countries and will be held at the Pacific Coliseum, the same venue that will host short-track speed skating during the 2010 Games.

Jayner, who has dual citizenship with the United States, has been dreaming about making the Olympics ever since he first laced up his skates as a child at the Riverview Speed Skating Club. Even more so after he fell short of making the U.S. Olympic team for the 2006 Winter Games in Turin, Italy.

"This is a pretty important weekend for everybody," Jayner, 26, said this week from Salt Lake City, Utah, where he trains with the U.S. World Cup team.

"We've gone there for a week in each of the last two summers just to get a feel for the city, just to get comfortable. Now, we'll get a chance to get on the venue itself and really get a feel for the building, so it's not an opportunity you want to waist. You want to use this weekend to your advantage so you're ready for the show in 2010."

Jayner, in his fourth year with the U.S. World Cup team, is coming off his best individual World Cup performance at last week's season opener in Salt Lake City, where he placed sixth in the men's 1,500-metre event. He also helped the U.S. team -- that included two-time Olympic gold medallist and Dancing With the Stars winner Apolo Anton Ohno -- win a silver medal in the 5,000-metre relay in world record time.

Jayner came close to making the 2006 U.S. Olympic team -- he was among the necessary top five skaters entering the trials -- but cracked under the pressure.

"I definitely learned a lot from that experience. I knew I should have made it, I should have been there, but it has just made me work even harder," said Jayner, who won a bronze medal with the U.S. 5,000 metre relay team at the 2007 world championships.

"I need to learn from the mistakes I made there and turn them into positives for next time."

The road to Vancouver in 2010 will include the U.S. Olympic trials in Marquette, Mich., next September. In the meantime, Jayner hopes to improve with each World Cup competition.

"I'd like to see our relay team be on the podium in all of the World Cup events. I think we have one of the best teams in the world," the Riverview High School graduate said.

"Individually, I would like to get on the podium myself and make as many finals as I can. That's the level of skating that I think I should be around."

Jayner first joined the U.S. national team at a World Cup event in Quebec in 2004, which meant he was no longer eligible to compete for Canada. Nearly four years later, he said he has no regrets on his decision.

"It's not something I think about too much. I'm very happy with the way it's worked out and I think it would actually drive me crazy if I hadn't taken the opportunity. I would have always wondered 'what if,'" said Jayner, who will head to Beijing, China Nov. 28-30 for the next World Cup event.

"I'm having a blast and I can't imagine a better life for someone my age. It's just been incredible the opportunities I've got to experience through skating and I'm very grateful for living this dream."