KEARNS, Utah - Chad Hedrick is going to be the busiest long track speedskater at the Turin Games. As the only American who qualified for five events, the confident Texan has set his sights on Eric Heiden’s record of five golds in one Olympics.

“That would be an unbelievable feat for me,” said Hedrick, who set a world record in the 10,000 meters at the U.S. championships that ended Saturday.

“With a lot of great skating, continuing to work hard and having a little luck on my side, it could happen. But those are some big shoes to fill.”

Hedrick will be competing in his first Olympics barely three years after switching from inline skating to the ice. He qualified in the 1,000, 1,500, 5,000 and 10,000, and is expected to skate in team pursuit, a new event.

“He’s going to be better in four years than he is now,” said Bart Schouten, Hedrick’s coach. “He’s still learning. He’s still not done.”

Neither is Shani Davis.

He failed in his bid to make the Olympic short track team, leaving him free to concentrate on his budding rivalry with Hedrick in the 1,000, 1,500 and 5,000.

“The world has got their hands full with us two,” Hedrick said.

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Davis had already qualified for the long track squad, so he skipped last week’s championships to train in Calgary. That denied Hedrick his strongest competition and set up a compelling storyline for Turin.

“Those guys bring out the best in each other,” Schouten said.

Hedrick has taken the typically staid speedskating world by storm with his ability and outspoken nature since his emergence in 2004, when he became the first non-Dutch skater to win the all-around world championship since 1988.

“I’ve spent too much time in my life sacrificing for this sport to come out here and be happy getting second place,” he said. “I’m not that much more talented than everybody, I’m not that much stronger, but sometimes it has to do with what your head and your heart want.”

Davis has come up quickly in the years since Salt Lake City, when he was an alternate on the short track team and didn’t skate.

Beyond the Hedrick-Davis rivalry, all six long track medalists from the 2002 Salt Lake City Games will be in Turin: Kip Carpenter, Joey Cheek, Casey FitzRandolph, Derek Parra, Jennifer Rodriguez, and Chris Witty.

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Parra overcame the trauma of his impending divorce to make the team and try to defend his gold medal in the 1,500.

“He’s definitely going to be able to get on the podium again,” said Schouten, who coaches Parra.

The United States won a record 11 speedskating medals nearly four years ago, and expectations are high that medal count will be surpassed.

“We have the same people who are doing about as well as they have in the past, and now you add Shani and Chad,” Schouten said. “We’re almost twice as strong medal count-wise.”

On the women’s side, Rodriguez and Witty are veterans who have already won Olympic medals. Each qualified in the same three events — 500, 1,000 and 1,500.

“Both of us are going to have good shots in a couple races,” Witty said.

The rest of the women’s team is young, including first-timers Maggie Crowley, who is 19, and Maria Lamb, who turns 20 on Wednesday.

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“Right now, it’s just sort of congratulations for making the team,” Witty said. “You’ll see from here where they go.”

Catherine Raney set two U.S. records at last week’s championships, and has had consistent results on the World Cup circuit.

“Everybody on this team is ready to step up,” she said. “We’re starting to take those positions that the Dutch and the German girls have typically claimed. The Olympics is anybody’s game.”

Two more skaters were added to the team Sunday. Charles Leveille and Clay Mull will compete in team pursuit.