But Witty, hampered by bursitis in her left hip, skated so poorly in Turin in February that only the honor of being elected flag-bearer for the U.S. team prevented her final Olympic experience from being a total bust.
Though she never officially retired, Witty indicated at the time that her competitive career probably was over.
"It took a few months to get over it," she said Friday. "I enjoyed Torino because of being the flag-bearer and watching other people skate and things like that, but I didn't enjoy skating there."
Witty trained a bit with friends in the summer but in September was ready to take a job in the "real" world as a public relations intern at Orthopedic Specialty Hospital in Salt Lake City. She would be working with Eric Heiden, the former Olympic star from Madison who is a renowned orthopedic surgeon.
But the newly created position had not been approved, so Witty got back on the ice in mid-September. Three months later, she was in Milwaukee, competing in the sprints at the U.S. Long Track Championships.
"I didn't think I'd be skating back here," she said.
Witty finished second to Waukesha native Elli Ochowicz in both the 500 and 1,000 meters Friday and was second in the point standings going into the final two races today, in good shape to earn a spot on the World Cup team.
Ochowicz, a two-time Olympian, was timed in 39.5 seconds in the 500 and 1:19.01 in the 1,000. Witty's times were 40.0 and 1:19.86, the latter far off her 2002 Olympic gold medal-winning (and then world record) time of 1:13.83.
Jessica Smith finished third in the 500 in 40.57 and Catherine Raney was third in the 1,000 in 1:20.10. Smith was third in the point standings.
In the men's sprints, Brookfield native Kip Carpenter finished second in both the 500 and 1,000 and took a slim lead over Shani Davis, who won the 1,000 in 1:09.76. Tucker Fredricks of Janesville won the 500 in 35.48.
Carpenter's times were 35.74 in the 500 and 1:10.29 in the 1,000. Davis finished third in the 500 in 36.31.
Witty said she didn't classify her return to speedskating as a comeback, "because I never left." But she did rule out the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver.
"I think it's a one-year thing," she said. "Right now, it's a one-year thing. I can safely say the Olympics are done."
Her next competition would be the World Sprint Championship, Jan. 20-21 in Hamar, Norway, and her goal is to be in top shape for the World Single-Distance Championships, March 8-11 in Salt Lake City.
"I still think I can have a good performance by the end of the season, in Salt Lake City," she said. "There's no reason why I can't work really hard right now and try to have a good race there. A top-five, that would be a great goal."
Then she can start that job in the "real" world.
"As far as I know," she said, "the job is waiting for me."
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