Derek Parra
Country	United States
Date of birth	March 15, 1970 (1970-03-15) (age 39)
Place of birth	San Bernardino, California
Height	1.62 m (5 ft 4 in)
Weight	63 kg (140 lb; 9.9 st)

Derek Parra (born March 15, 1970) is a Mexican-American speed skater from San Bernardino, California, who graduated from Eisenhower High School (Rialto, California) in 1988. Parra won two medals at the 2002 Winter Olympics, held in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Parra was originally a world champion inline speed skater. Following the lead of KC Boutiette, he switched to ice skating in the late 1990s as it was the only way he would have a chance of going to the Olympics as a speed skater.

Parra's most successful season was from 2001 to 2002. At the 2002 Winter Olympics, 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 had surprisingly won the silver in the 5000 meters, an event in which he had not been expected to place but in which he briefly held the world record before being bested by Jochem Uytdehaage of the Netherlands.

Derek Parra was selected to take over as U.S. speedskating national all-around coach for the upcoming 2010 Olympics. He is also scheduled to host a dinner and auction for the Weber/Morgan Children Justice Center in Ogden, Utah. This event benefits children who are victims of abuse.

[edit] External links

• Derek Parra's U.S. Olympic Team bio ... with notes, quotes, photos
• Photos of Derek Parra
• Profile on SkateResults.com

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