Speedskating: Richardson breaks 1,000-meter U.S. record
Speedskating • She bests 1,000-meter mark set in 2002.  Kearns •
Emblazoned under the track at the Utah Olympic Oval is the
phrase "The Fastest Ice In The World."  These past two days
Heather Richardson hasn't been the fastest in the world, but
she's been the fastest American, inscribing her own name into
U.S. speedskating lore.  The 23-year-old broke a United States
record for a second straight day, this time snapping the women's
1,000-meter record at the U.S. Long-Track Speedskating
Championships on Saturday morning. Her time of 1 minute, 13.52
seconds broke the 10-year-old record held by her childhood hero
Chris Witty, who skated a 1:13.83 in February 2002.  "That
record has been standing for a long time," Richardson said.
"Everyone looked up to her because she had that for so long."
After breaking the national record, Richardson breathed heavily
from an oxygen mask for several minutes as she took her warm-
down laps, trying to recover the energy expe