Emery Lehman

Reason for choosing this sport

He was playing ice hockey when his mother noticed a poster that said speed skating could help improve hockey skills. "I started skating when I was really young. By the time I started hockey [at age six] I was a really good skater. When I was nine, I was at a hockey clinic in Franklin Park and my mum saw a poster for speed skating. She was the kind of mother who would make my brother and I try every sport possible, and she thought it would be good for hockey. I didn't really wanna go to my first practice, but she kind of dragged me to it. But I started and I ended up loving it."

Most influential person in career

His mother Marcia, and US speed skater Jonathan Kuck. (Athlete, 11 Nov 2017; oakpark.com, 21 Feb 2012)

Name of coach

Gabriel Girard [national], CAN; Ryan Shimabukuro [national], USA

Hero / Idol

US baseball and American football player Bo Jackson. (Athlete, 11 Nov 2017)

When and where did you begin this sport?

He took up the sport at age nine in Chicago, IL, United States of America. "I learned how to skate in Oak Park, Illinois, at what was Ridgeland Commons but I learned to speed skate with the Franklin Park Speed Skating Club."

twitter.com/TheEmeryLehman

Awards and honours	He was named the 2014 Male Athlete of the Year by the Wednesday Journal, a newspaper based in Oak Park, IL, United States of America. (oakpark.com, 01 Jul 2014)
Sporting philosophy / motto	"My philosophy is the same for school and skating. I might not be the smartest kid in the classroom or the most talented skater on the ice, but it doesn't take skill to work hard, recover correctly, be on top for training." (OIS, 06 Feb 2018)
Other information	EARLY DAYS He and his brother were involved in several sports throughout their school years, which he says helped make him more competitive. "Not only were we competitive through sports but we brought that into school. Our backyard basketball games always turned into fights because we were so competitive but on top of that, doing all these different sports, getting thrown onto different teams, learning new rules - it was a good way of messing with your brain to learn all these different things and have to work with different people. I think it was really good for us. He's a role model to me. He played tennis in college and earned a master's degree in civil engineering. I think he has an incredible work ethic." (Parks Foundation of Oak Park YouTube channel, 03 Jun 2020; teamusa.org, 13 Mar 2020) BALANCING SPORT AND STUDY In 2020 he began studying for a master's degree in structural engineering at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, MD, United States of America. He has balanced speed skating and his studies since school. "There are two sides to it. On one side, I got to go to college and still experience some international competition. On the other side, my progression really slowed down during that time [his undergraduate studies at Marquette University]. Solely from an athletic standpoint, it was not good. If you look at it from the standpoint of someone who wanted to live a kind of normal life, it was good, and I'm really appreciative of the smaller success that I've had and the smaller improvements I've made. But, it's a good question for when I'm done skating, whether it was a good decision or a bad one for me. I won't know until I'm truly done. Someone asked me recently [speaking in 2021] what I do outside of school and skating. The answer is school and skating." (tmj4.com, 15 Feb 2022; hub.jhu.edu, 03 Feb 2022; teamusa.org, 23 Mar 2021; stories.marquette.edu, 18 Feb 2018; Twitter profile, 21 Nov 2021; LinkedIn profile, 01 Mar 2021) OTHER ACTIVITIES He has served on the athlete advisory council of US Speedskating. (usspeedskating.org, 01 Jan 2023)

www.facebook.com/TheEmeryLehman

Ambitions	To compete at the 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Milan-Cortina. (oakpark.com, 18 Feb 2022)
Famous relatives	His older brother Graham played tennis at collegiate level for Lehigh University in the United States of America from 2013 to 2017. (teamusa.org, 13 Mar 2020; OIS, 06 Feb 2018; lehighsports.com, 01 Aug 2017)
Milestones	At age 17 years and 240 days when he competed in the 5000m, he was the youngest speed skater from any nation to participate at the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi. (SportsDeskOnline, 14 Nov 2017; emerylehman.com, 03 Aug 2014)
Injuries	He was diagnosed with mononucleosis [glandular fever] after the 2018 Olympic Winter Games in Pyeongchang, and the effects of the illness led him to take a year out of the sport. "After 2018, I was pretty confident I wanted to keep skating but I was sick and stayed stagnant. I took a year off to see if I really wanted to do it." (teamusa.org, 13 Mar 2020)
Superstitions / Rituals / Beliefs	When he competes, he brings a lucky hoodie from the Pettit National Ice Center in Milwaukee, WI, United States of America. "The awesome staff, Kevin and Randy at the Pettit, gave this to me, this and a shirt, before I left for Salt Lake City for my first Olympic Trials." (tmj4.com, 15 Feb 2022)