Patrick Meek

Early life and education

Patrick Meek was born November 10, 1985 in the Chicago suburb of Evanston, Illinois into a family of avid speed skaters. His father was a speed skating coach and national team member, and his grandfather skated competitively at the club level. Meek's younger sister Kathleen also skated for a while, but gave up the sport as a kid. By age two, basically as soon as he could walk, Meek was on speed skates learning the sport. He grew up in the Chicago suburbs before moving to St. Louis, Missouri.

Meek graduated from high school in St. Louis in 2004 and moved to Utah to further his speed skating career. He earned a Bachelor of Science in Political Science from the University of Utah in 2009. As of 2014, he is working on a post-graduate degree at Ashworth College.

Speed skating career

Meek made the national speed skating team in 2006. He elected to pursue distance events, realizing he did not have the proper physical characteristics for sprints and was well suited psychologically for long races. At the 2006 Olympic Trials, Meek had no aspirations of making the team but turned in a personal best in the 10,000 meters. 2010 was a different story – Meek expected to make the team and was devastated when his personal best time came up short. "At that moment, I [couldn't] get past the fact that I didn’t make the Olympic team", he later commented. "It was tough watching the event you’d committed your life to [on TV]."

At the 2012–2013 National Championships, Meek turned in a personal best time of 13:26.06 in the 10,000 meters en route to a second-place finish. In 2013, he won the United States title in the 25,000 and 50,000 meter races. At the Olympic Trials in December, in the 5,000 meter race Meek had both contact lenses come out with 1.5 laps to go. As a result, he "[couldn't] really see anything" but got through the race with the help of his coach yelling encouragements. He finished the race in 6:27.90, good enough for third place and a spot on the Olympic team. "It was kind of frightening", Meek recalled, but "when you hear [your coach yell 'This is for the Olympic team!'], you think, ‘Hey, I can do one more lap'". A few days later, Meek turned in a personal best time of 13:23.16 in the 10,000 meters, but came up 0.39 seconds short of the only qualifying spot in the event, placing third.

A the Olympics, Meek placed 20th in the 5000 meters with a time of 6:32.94. When several skaters from other nations withdrew from the 10,000 meters, Meek was selected from the alternate list to participate in the event. He finished the race in 13:28.72, placing 11th, five hundredths of a second behind Lehman. "Honestly I just started laughing," Meek said of the difference. "We were so close at trials and so close today."

Due to his difficult workouts, Meek has earned the nickname "Mule." He explains: "I don't always look pretty out there ... I am not the favorite barn animal. [But], more often than not, I get the job done out there." Meek does a lot of extreme distance training (100+ laps at a time) which he says helps him in the 5,000 meter (12.5 laps) and 10,000 meter (25 laps) races.

Personal life

As part of a sponsorship deal, Meek works as a valet at the Waldorf Astoria Park City when not skating. In 2013, he teamed up with Charity: water to promote clean drinking water in the developing world. Meek also promotes Right To Play, a charity formed by former speed skater Johann Olav Koss. He has two sisters who live with his parents in Naples, Florida.