Richard Terrance "Terry" McDermott (nicknamed "The Essexville Rocket", born September 20, 1940) is an American gold and silver medal-winning Olympic

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 skating. ...

. McDermott was a surprise winner in the 500 m at the

1964 Winter Olympics The 1964 Winter Olympics, officially known as the IX Olympic Winter Games (german: IX. Olympische Winterspiele) and commonly known as Innsbruck 1964 ( bar, Innschbruck 1964, label=Austro-Bavarian), was a winter multi-sport event which was celebr ...

Innsbruck Innsbruck (; bar, Innschbruck, label=Bavarian language, Austro-Bavarian ) is the capital of Tyrol (state), Tyrol and the List of cities and towns in Austria, fifth-largest city in Austria. On the Inn (river), River Inn, at its junction with the ...

when he beat the favorite in that distance, reigning Olympic champion Yevgeny Grishin, by half a second. His coach at the time was

Leo Freisinger Leonhard Freisinger (February 7, 1916 – August 29, 1985) was an American speed skater who competed at the 1936 Winter Olympics. He won a bronze medal in the 500 m and placed fourth in the 1500 m event. He won the U.S. National Indoor title in ...

, the 500 m bronze medal winner of the

1936 Winter Olympics The 1936 Winter Olympics, officially known as the IV Olympic Winter Games (german: IV. Olympische Winterspiele) and commonly known as Garmisch-Partenkirchen 1936 ( bar, Garmasch-Partakurch 1936), were a winter multi-sport event held from 6 to 16 ...

. McDermott's international career consisted exclusively of the 500 m at the Olympic Winter Games of 1960, 1964 and 1968. In 1968 he skated in unfavorable conditions, late in the day when the sun melted the ice. Yet he finished only 0.2 seconds behind the winner. McDermott was inducted in the ''National Speedskating Hall of Fame'' on June 4, 1977. At the

1980 Winter Olympics The 1980 Winter Olympics, officially the XIII Olympic Winter Games and also known as Lake Placid 1980, were an international multi-sport event held from February 13 to 24, 1980, in Lake Placid, New York, United States. Lake Placid was elected ...

in Lake Placid, McDermott took the

Olympic Oath The Olympic Oath (distinct from the Olympic creed) is a solemn promise made by one athlete, judge or official, and one coach at the Opening Ceremony of each Olympic Games. Each oath taker is from the host nation and takes the oath on behalf of al ...

representing the judges. McDermott worked as a barber from 1963 to 1967, and after that as a manufacturer's representative in the

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

area. In parallel he served as a speed skating official. On February 9, 1964, he was a guest on ''

The Ed Sullivan Show ''The Ed Sullivan Show'' is an American television program, television variety show that ran on CBS from June 20, 1948, to March 28, 1971, and was hosted by New York City, New York entertainment columnist Ed Sullivan. It was replaced in Septembe ...

'', an appearance that was overshadowed by the first U.S. performance of

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...

.Essexville's Terry McDermott shocked the world with Olympic gold in 1964 Games
MLive.com, February 11, 2010 He currently resides in

Bloomfield Hills, Michigan Bloomfield Hills is a small city (5.04 sq. miles) in Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is a northern suburb of Metro Detroit and is approximately northwest of Downtown Detroit. Except a small southern border with the city of Bir ...

. He is married to Virginia, :File:Virginia McDermott 1964.jpg and has five children and an elder sister Marilyn.

References

External links

* Eng, Trond. ''All Time International Championships, Complete results 1889–2002''. Askim, Norway, WSSSA Skøytenytt, 2002.
Terry McDermott at SkateResults.com
1940 births Living people American male speed skaters Speed skaters at the 1960 Winter Olympics Speed skaters at the 1964 Winter Olympics Speed skaters at the 1968 Winter Olympics Sportspeople from Michigan Olympic gold medalists for the United States in speed skating Olympic silver medalists for the United States in speed skating Olympic officials Medalists at the 1964 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 1968 Winter Olympics Oath takers at the Olympic Games {{US-speed-skating-bio-stub