Derek Parra (born March 15, 1970) is an American inline skater and

speed skater Speed skating is a competitive form of ice skating in which the competitors race each other in travelling a certain distance on skates. Types of speed skating are long track speed skating, short track speed skating, and marathon speed skatin ...

from

San Bernardino, California San Bernardino (; Spanish language, Spanish for Bernardino of Siena, "Saint Bernardino") is a city and county seat of San Bernardino County, California, United States. Located in the Inland Empire region of Southern California, the city had a ...

, who graduated from Eisenhower High School in

Rialto, California Rialto is a city in San Bernardino County, California, United States, 56 miles east of Los Angeles, near the Cajon Pass, Interstate 15, Interstate 10, State Route 210 and Metrolink routes. Its population was 104,026 as of the 2020 Census, ...

, in 1988. Parra won two medals at the

2002 Winter Olympics The 2002 Winter Olympics, officially the XIX Olympic Winter Games and commonly known as Salt Lake 2002 ( arp, Niico'ooowu' 2002; Gosiute dialect, Gosiute Shoshoni: ''Tit'-so-pi 2002''; nv, Sooléí 2002; Shoshoni language, Shoshoni: ''Soó ...

, held in

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the capital and most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in Utah. With a population of 200,133 in 2020, th ...

, Utah.

Career

Parra's most successful season was from 2001 to 2002. At the

, he took the gold in the 1500 meters, an event in which he had been expected to do well but faced a deep pool of competition. Before that, he won the silver in the 5000 meters being bested by Jochem Uytdehaage of the Netherlands. He has worked part-time in

Home Depot The Home Depot, Inc., is an American multinational corporation, multinational home improvement retail corporation that sells tools, construction products, appliances, and services, including fuel and transportation rentals. Home Depot is the l ...

's gardening department in

West Valley City, Utah West Valley City is a city in Salt Lake County and a suburb of Salt Lake City in the U.S. state of Utah. The population was 140,230 at the 2020 census, making it the second-largest city in Utah. The city incorporated in 1980 from a large, qui ...

. In his book, ''Reflections in the Ice'', Parra recounts pursuing his dream of becoming an inline skater at 17, working at

McDonald's McDonald's Corporation is an American multinational fast food Fast food is a type of mass-produced food designed for commercial resale, with a strong priority placed on speed of service. It is a commercial term, limited to food sold ...

Tampa, Florida Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and the seat of Hillsborough C ...

, and being so poor he had to eat out of the trash. Parra was selected to take over as U.S. speed skating national all-around coach for the 2010 Olympics. He appears in a Restore Our Future television ad endorsing Republican

Mitt Romney Willard Mitt Romney (born March 12, 1947) is an American politician, businessman, and lawyer serving as the junior United States senator from Utah since January 2019, succeeding Orrin Hatch. He served as the 70th governor of Massachusett ...

in the

2012 U.S. presidential election The 2012 United States presidential election was the 57th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 6, 2012. Incumbent Democratic President Barack Obama and his running mate, incumbent Vice President Joe Biden, were r ...

and spoke at the

2012 Republican National Convention The 2012 Republican National Convention was a gathering held by the U.S. Republican Party during which delegates officially nominated former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney and Representative Paul Ryan of Wisconsin for president and vice pr ...

. Parra became friends with Romney when he was president of the Salt Lake City Olympic organizing committee.

Records

Personal records

World records

Source: SpeedSkatingStats.com

References

External links

Derek Parra's U.S. Olympic Team bio
... with notes, quotes, photos
Derek Parra at SpeedSkatingStats.com
1970 births Living people American male speed skaters American roller skaters Speed skaters at the 2002 Winter Olympics Speed skaters at the 2006 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 2002 Winter Olympics Olympic gold medalists for the United States in speed skating Olympic silver medalists for the United States in speed skating World record setters in speed skating American sportspeople of Mexican descent Sportspeople from San Bernardino, California Pan American Games medalists in roller skating Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States Pan American Games silver medalists for the United States Pan American Games bronze medalists for the United States World Allround Speed Skating Championships medalists World Single Distances Speed Skating Championships medalists Competitors at the 1995 Pan American Games Medalists at the 1995 Pan American Games 20th-century American people 21st-century American people {{US-Winter-Olympic-medalist-stub