Brian Hansen isn't afraid of the cold, the ice, the lake or even the pressure of returning for Olympic redemption.
On his way to his third Olympic Winter Games, Hansen said this time he's doing things a little different.
[[468478343, C]]
The 27-year-old Glenbrook South High School graduate will compete in the 1,500 meter race and in the mass start, a new event that will debut in PyeongChang, South Korea.
“When everyone starts speedskating, they hope to make an Olympic team because that’s one of the biggest dreams,” said Hansen.
Hansen grew up rollerblading and playing hockey. He discovered speedskating at the Northbrook Speedskating Club, which boasts several Olympic alumni, including 2018 Olympians Lana Gehring and Mitchell Whitmore.
Once in high school, Hansen’s parents would drive him to train at the Pettit National Ice Center in Milwaukee about four to five days a week, according to Hansen.
“They’d have dinner for me in the car on the way home, and it was just a lot of driving and commitment to make it work,” said Hansen.
That commitment would pay off.
Hansen made his first U.S. Olympic Long Track Speedskating Team in 2010. At 21, he brought home from Vancouver a silver medal in the team pursuit.
“(Brian) always continued to amaze me,” said his dad John Hansen. “We weren’t completely sure he was going to make the (2010 Olympic) team, and so to make that team and go on to win a medal was just an amazing experience for us and for him.”
Local
Hansen qualified for the 2014 Olympic Team and had high hopes for Sochi, along with the rest of Team USA’s long track team.
But for the first time in 30 years, the team failed to reach the podium.
“Sochi didn’t go quite as well as hoped,” said Hansen. “But two weeks later, I had the best race ever. A lot of international skaters said, ‘Oh, you should’ve done that two weeks earlier!’ and I said, ‘I know.’”
[[468452493, R]]
Hansen moved to Boulder, Colorado for college for two years after the Sochi Olympics. He said he thought about leaving skating behind, but he missed the sport and moved back to train full-time.
Hansen finished his marketing degree online in the spring of 2017.
He said his approach to training and competing is different this time around – he’s much more focused on the process and overall experience.
“My approach the last two years is trying to come at the sport with less pressure,” said Hansen. “Keeping my workouts interesting and things like that, even if that means it might make it a little less effective of a workout sometimes, but you gain something in return.”
Hansen’s idea of fun recently has been surfing Lake Michigan, even in freezing temperatures.
“We went down to Indiana and Michigan, and it’s been a total surprise by how good the waves can actually be on the lake,” Hansen said, adding “I think suring in the middle of winter is warmer than speedskating at the Pettit on a lot of days.”
[[468478463, C]]
While his mindset toward speedskating may be different, Hansen said he’s still competitive with high goals, and he remains grateful for the opportunity to once again represent Team USA.
Another thing that also hasn’t changed: Hansen continues to eat only blue M&M’s on race day.
“And they have to come from my cousin Haley,” said Hansen. “She gave me blue M&M’s one day for energy, and I had a good race…they have to be blue!”
