TURIN, Italy (AP) – What a contrast it was: Chris Witty gliding slowly along the ice, hands on her knees, huffing and puffing as the scoreboard flashed up a time that was nearly five seconds slower than the greatest race of her life.

Not exactly the way she wanted to go out. In what may have been the final Olympic race for one of America’s most acclaimed speedskaters, Witty chugged around the oval for 2 excruciating laps on Sunday, looking as thought she might have forgotten to sharpen her blades, or maybe tucked a few rocks inside that skintight suit.

Before she ever stepped on the ice, Witty knew it wasn’t going to be her day. The mind was willing, but the 30-year-old body just wouldn’t go along.

“I went out there and put out my best effort,” she said, managing a weak smile that did little to mask the sad look in her eyes. “That’s all you can ever hope for.”

Her best wasn’t nearly good enough in the 1,000 meters.

Witty managed a time of 1 minutes, 18.70 seconds, leaving her more than 21/2 seconds behind gold medalist Marianne Timmer of the Netherlands and 27th among the 35 skaters who finished. That was a bit of an improvement on the 500; Witty put up the worst time of anyone who made it through the race without falling or getting disqualified.

“We were hoping for a miracle, but we knew she wasn’t skating so well,” said Bart Schouten, her coach. “The word she used yesterday was embarrassing.’ It’s not what this girl can do.”

Witty was skating pretty well at the beginning of the season, but she injured her groin during a World Cup meet in Turin in early December. She was still struggling at the U.S. trials later that month, though she managed to make the team in three events. The injury healed, but Witty’s training program never recovered.

“Up until today, we didn’t want to give in to the feeling that it wasn’t going so well, because you’re still hoping for a miracle. Chris has pulled things off,” Schouten said. “Obviously, today is a reality – and it’s a rough one.”

Four years ago at Salt Lake City, Witty was on top of the world – winning the 1,000 in her home country, with a world-record time that still stands.

Maybe that would have been the place to call it a career, but she wasn’t ready to give up the sport that has defined her life.

“Once you’re a medalist, you always want to be a medalist,” Witty said. “Regardless of how you’re feeling, you want to put it altogether. I think I held together pretty well. But physically, it just wasn’t there.”

Well, at least she’s got her emotional life sorted out. In between the last Olympics and this one, Witty went public with an awful childhood secret: She was sexually abused by a trusted neighbor in suburban Milwaukee, starting at age 4 and continuing for seven years until she finally realized it was OK to say, “No.”

Witty overcame feelings of guilt and severe depression to put together a sparkling Olympic career. She captured silver and bronze medals at Nagano in 1998, then completed the set with gold four years later. For good measure, she’s one of only nine Americans to take part in both the Winter and Summer Games, competing in track cycling at Sydney in 2000.

At the opening ceremonies for Turin, Witty marched into the stadium at the head of the U.S. delegation, proudly carrying the Stars and Stripes. That will have to be her highlight from these games.

“When I look back at all the medals, I appreciate it more,” she said. “It’s almost like I wonder how I did that four years ago and eight years ago.”

Witty also qualified for Wednesday’s 1,500, but she may cede her spot to teammate Maggie Crowley, a 19-year-old skating in her first Olympics and next on the list should one of the four Americans drop out.

“If Maggie comes up to me and says she really wants the opportunity to race, I’ll give it over,” Witty said. “But I’d like to go out there and give it one more shot. This is the Olympics. I came here to race.”

After Turin, Witty will finish out the World Cup season, then get on with the rest of her life. She’ll go back to college, try to come up with a career that keeps her involved in the sport she loves so much.

Maybe she’ll coach or become an agent or get involved in the marketing end of things. She won’t completely rule out trying to make the U.S. team for Vancouver, but she sure sounded like an athlete preparing for retirement.

“I have to get a job,” Witty said.

As she cooled down on the warmup lane, Witty couldn’t help but notice another number on the scoreboard, the one at the top. That was her record time – 1:13.83 – from Salt Lake City, a mark no one came close to challenging on the slow Turin ice.

“Well, at least they’re still showing my world record up there,” she said. “I’m still proud of it.”

AP-ES-02-19-06 1535EST