Terry McDermott (speed skater)

Richard Terrance McDermott (September 20, 1940 – May 20, 2023), nicknamed The Essexville Rocket,^[3] was an American gold and silver medal-winning Olympic speed skater.

Terry McDermott

McDermott at the 1968 Olympics
Personal information
Full name	Richard Terrance McDermott
Born	(1940-09-14)September 14, 1940 Essexville, Michigan, U.S.[1]
Died	May 20, 2023(2023-05-20) (aged 82)
Sport
Sport	Speed skating
Club	Boston Ski and Sports Club
Coached by	Leo Freisinger[2]
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s)	500 m – 39.6 (1964) 1000 m – 1:28.0 (1968) 1500 m – 2:22.1 (1968)[1]
Medal record Representing the  United States Olympic Games 1964 Innsbruck 500 m 1968 Grenoble 500 m

Essexville, Michigan's McDermott was a surprise winner in the 500 m at the 1964 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck when he beat the favorite in that distance, two-time defending Olympic champion Yevgeny Grishin, by half a second. His coach at the time was Leo Freisinger, the 500 m bronze medal winner of the 1936 Winter Olympics.^[2] McDermott's international career consisted exclusively of the 500 m at the Olympic Winter Games of 1960, 1964 and 1968. In 1968 he skated in unfavorable conditions, late in the day when the sun melted the ice, yet he finished only 0.2 seconds behind the winner.^[1]

McDermott was inducted in the National Speedskating Hall of Fame on June 4, 1977.^[4] At the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, McDermott took the Olympic Oath representing the judges.^[1]

McDermott worked as a barber from 1963 to 1967, and after that as a manufacturer's representative in the Detroit area. He later served as a speed skating official.^[1] On February 9, 1964, he was a guest on The Ed Sullivan Show, the same night as the first U.S. performance of The Beatles.^[3] He resided in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. He was married to Virginia,^[5] and had five children, 11 grandchildren, and one great-granddaughter.^[6]

McDermott died on May 20, 2023, at the age of 82.^[7]