New Zealand speed skater Shane Dobbin finished 17th in the men's 5000m yesterday, on the first day of competition. He completed the race 8.78 seconds behind the winner, Dutchman Sven Kramer, who won in 6:14.60, setting a new Olympic record.
Doddin is a four-time world inline skating champion but said it wasn't his day on the ice.
"This week I've been feeling good all week, and was having to slow myself to what I thought would be race pace," he said.
"Standing on the start line I was comfortable and confident."
"By the time I got to mid-race everything was blurry - you lose your hearing first and then your vision in the last couple of laps.
"It wasn't my day today."
In other news, New Zealand's first biathlon competitor at an Olympics, Sarah Murphy, placed 82nd out of 88 competitors in the women's 7.5km sprint event.
In the Biathlon, athletes combine physically demanding cross-country skiing with rifle shooting requiring accuracy and control.
During the sprint, women race 7.5 kilometres (3 laps of a 2.5-km loop) and men 10 kilometres (3 laps of a 3.3-km loop). All competitors must stop twice at the shooting range to take five shots at a target. If an athlete misses a shot, he or she must ski a lap around a 150-metre penalty loop. The athlete with the lowest time, including penalty loops, is the winner.
Tomorrows line up includes:
07:00 Alpine Skiing, Combined – Women, Whistler Creekside
08:15 Biathlon, 10km – Men, Whistler Olympic Park
09:00 Ice Hockey, Ice Hockey – Women, UBC Thunderbird Arena
10:00 Skating - Speed, 3000m – Women, Richmond Olympic Oval
10:00 Alpine Skiing, Combined – Women, Whistler Creekside
10:00 Luge, Singles – Men, The Whistler Sliding Centre
10:45 Nordic Combined, Individual 10km, Whistler Olympic Park
11:30 Freestyle Skiing, Moguls – Men, Cypress Mountain
13:30 Skating - Figure, Short Program - Pairs Pacific Coliseum
13:30 Ice Hockey, Ice Hockey – Women, UBC Thunderbird Arena
14:30 Freestyle Skiing, Moguls – Men, Cypress Mountain
