Jeremy Wotherspoon, born in Humboldt, but skating for the club in Red Deer, is one of the best sprinters in the world at the time. An ice hockey player at age 6, he tried out speed skating at age 9 and stuck with it. In 1995, he made the Canadian Junior team and participated in World Junior Championships for two years, both times making the final distances (both times finishing last in that distance as well). He also made his World Cup debut that year, and qualified for the inaugural World Single Distance Championships, where he didn't finish the second run of the 500 m. During his junior period, he set 10 new Junior World Records.

His real breakthrough came in the 1997/1998 Olympic season - the season of the clap skate. He won his first World Cup race in Roseville, and broke two World Records (sprint combination and 1000 m) in late 1997. At the World Sprint Championships, he was one of the favourites, but placed second to Jan Bos. At the Olympic Games in Nagano, Wotherspoon won the silver in the 500 m behind an untouchable Hiroyasu Shimizu, in spite of a 7th place in the first run. He closed out the season with two medals at the World Single Distance Championships, and two World Cup titles.

Wotherspoon dominated the sprint the following season, winning the World Sprint title in front of his home crowd in Calgary, setting World Records in all sprint distances, and again winning two World Cup titles. Only exception that season were his two falls at the World Single Distance Championships in Heerenveen. 2000 was almost a carbon copy, with another World Sprint Championships, two World Cups, several World Records, but no medals in the WSD.

In 2001, he would finally win his first World Single Distance title, winning the 1000 m in Salt Lake City in a new World Record time of 1.08,28, while placing second in the 500 m. However, he had to hand his World Sprint crown to his compatriot Mike Ireland, while Shimizu won the 500 m World Cup. The 2002 World Sprint Championships were to be Wotherspoon's best ever, winning three out of four distances. If he wasn't one already, this made him a huge favourite for two gold medals at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, but that was not to be. His shot at the 500 m gold ended after only a few strokes with a fall. He skated the fastest time in the second heat, but that couldn't qualify as a consolation prize. A 13th place in the 1000 m made the 2002 Olympics a huge disappointment for Wotherspoon.

But he came back strong as ever the following season, losing only one international 500 m, bringing him his fourth World Sprint Championship, and the 500 m title at the World Single Distance Championships in Berlin. In December 2003, he surpassed his predecessors and former idols Dan Jansen and Uwe-Jens Mey in number of World Cups victories, becoming the best male skater in terms of World Cup wins. His number of World Cup titles (10, five in both 500 and 1000 m) is also a record for men. Only Bonnie Blair and Gunda Niemann have won more World Cup races and titles.

By Jeroen Heijmans, last updated November 27, 2005