Katherine Reutter

Personal life

Reutter was born and raised in Champaign, Illinois. Reutter was inspired to become a speed skater after meeting five-time Olympic gold medalist Bonnie Blair at her high school. She learned to skate with her mother during a figure skating class when she was four years old, but immediately found she was more interested in speed skating. Reutter first started speed skating professionally in 2005 at the age of 17. She began training at the Olympic Training Center in Marquette, Michigan that year. Reutter graduated from Centennial High School in 2006. She has trained in Salt Lake City, Utah since 2007, where she has paid for room, board, and training at her own expense.

2008–2009

At the 2008 World Short Track Speed Skating Championships, Reutter won a bronze medal in the 3000 m with a time of 5:46.518, finishing behind Zhou Yang and Jung Eun-Ju.

In February 2009, Reutter completed a 1000 m race in 1:29.667 in Dresden, Germany. It was less than 0.2 of a second short of the world record set the previous year by Chinese short track speed skater Wang Meng. At the 2009 World Short Track Speed Skating Team Championships, in March 2009, Reutter won a bronze medal along with Kimberly Derrick, Alyson Dudek, Lana Gehring, and Jessica Smith.

Reutter won four silver medals at the 2009 Short Track Speed Skating World Cup. She won the women's 1500 m at the 2009–10 Short Track Speed Skating World Cup on November 7, 2009, finishing in 2:23.275, beating Cho Ha-Ri of South Korea. Reutter made the 2010 U.S. Olympic team after winning the 1000 and 1500 m at the 2010 U.S. Olympic Team Trials in September 2009.

2010 Winter Olympics

Reutter ranked 1st in her qualifying heats for the 500 m with a time of 44.187. She then set an Olympic record in the first quarterfinal with a time of 43.834 but the record was beaten by Wang Meng of China in the next heat, with a time of 43.284. Reutter started slow in the semifinals, resulting in a fourth-place finish, eliminating her from medal contention. She finished seventh overall in the women's 500 m.

Reutter competed in the semifinals for the 3000 m relay with teammates Alyson Dudek, Allison Baver and Kimberly Derrick. The U.S. team qualified for the final in second place behind South Korea with a time of 4:15.376. Reutter finished in fourth place in the 1500 m final, behind Zhou Yang of China, with Lee Eun-Byul of South Korea in second, and Park Seung-Hi of South Korea in third. Reutter got tangled up with Wang Meng in the semifinal, causing both skaters and Cho Ha-Ri of South Korea to fall, resulting in Meng being disqualified from the final. Reutter repeated the same move in the final, bumping into Park, and later expressed remorse for both mistakes, stating "I think the room was there but maybe I just wasn't there. I don't know. But … I messed up and messed up some people around me, which I'm very sorry for." In the heats of the 1000 m, Reutter set an Olympic record and finished first overall in the heats. About an hour and a half later, Reutter competed in the 3000 m relay (with Allison Baver, Alyson Dudek, Lana Gehring) and won bronze behind China and Canada due to the disqualification of South Korea. In the final of the 1000 m, Reutter was edged out for the gold medal by Wang Meng, finishing behind her 1:29.324 to 1:29.213.

2010 World Short Track Speed Skating Championships

At the 2010 World Short Track Speed Skating Championships, in Sofia, Bulgaria, Reutter, who was fighting the flu, won bronze medals in the 1000 m and the 3000 m relay. In her first event, the 1000 m, Reutter placed third with a time of 1:31.747, finishing behind Wang Meng and Cho Ha-Ri. Reutter then combined with Alyson Dudek, Kimberly Derrick, and Lana Gehring in the 3000 m relay to finish third behind South Korea and Canada with a time of 4:14.231. Reutter also placed 6th in the 500 m, 4th in the 1500 m, and 4th in the 3000 m.

2011 World Short Track Speed Skating Championships

At the 2011 World Short Track Speed Skating Championships in Sheffield, England, Reutter won one gold, two silvers, and one bronze. She finished second overall with 68 points. In her first event, the 1500 m, Reutter won the gold ahead of Koreans Park Seung-Hi and Cho Ha-Ri in a time of 2:33.978. In winning the gold, Reutter became the first American woman to win a gold medal at a World Short Track Speed Skating Championships since Bonnie Blair did in 1986. After the 1500 m, Reutter competed in the 3000 m relay semifinals but fell during the race, resulting in the United States not advancing to the final. In her next event, the 500 m, Reutter did not advance past the semifinals, finishing 6th overall. In the 1000 m, Reutter finished in third place behind Cho Ha-Ri and Italian Arianna Fontana in a time of 2:23.268 even though she tripped on a lane block. In her last event, the 3000 m, Reutter just missed the gold medal, finishing behind Cho Ha-Ri 5:13.677 to 5:13.353.

Retirement

In early 2013 due to constant injuries, Reutter announced her retirement at the age of 24. She however returned to competition in 2016. After that, she became a coach at the Pettit National Ice Center.

Appearances and endorsements

Reutter appeared as a guest on Comedy Central's The Colbert Report on December 14, 2009. Host Stephen Colbert autographed her thigh, an idea by Reutter that initially caught the comedian off guard (Although Reutter's website suggest that it was her manager's idea and they had discussed it with Colbert beforehand). Colbert began raising funds for the U.S. Speedskating team when their sponsor, the Dutch DSB Bank, went bankrupt.

Reutter was sponsored by U.S. Speedskating, Verizon, EyeCare 20/20, Bioenergy Ribose, Nike, Oakley and the Champaign Police Department, who helped pay the costs of her training in Utah.