View source for Joey Cheek

{{short description|American speed skater}}
{{Infobox speed skater
| image          = Joey Cheek 2002.jpg
| full_name      = William Joseph N. Cheek 
| birth_date     = {{birth date and age|1979|6|22}}
| birth_place    = [[Greensboro, North Carolina]], U.S.
| death_date     = 
| death_place    = 
| height         = 6 ft 3 in
| weight         = 174 lb
| relations      = 
| alma_mater     = [[Princeton University]]
| website        = 
| spouse         = Tamara Jenkins<ref name="greensboro">{{cite web | url=https://greensboro.com/news/local/joey-cheek-greensboro-chamber-of-commerce/article_da52628c-6f84-11ee-a4ef-bbc1d6dc76ab.html | title=Return of the native: Find out why Joey Cheek is here to help Greensboro 'win' | work=greensboro.com | date=23 October 2023 | accessdate=14 December 2024 | first1=Nancy | last1=McLaughlin | quote=When the job was posted, Cheek had already returned to Greensboro two years earlier with his wife, Tamara Jenkins, an Olympian in kayak doubles at the 2000 Sydney games; [his infant son]; and the family dog.  The NBC Olympics analyst had been living in Denver and working for a venture capital company at the start of the pandemic lockdown in 2020. By that July, they had decided to go on a month-long road trip to visit family.}}</ref>
| children       = 1<ref name="greensboro" />
| retired        = 2006
| country        = {{USA}}
| medaltemplates = 
{{MedalSport | Men's [[speed skating]] }}
{{MedalCountry | the {{USA}} }}
{{MedalCompetition|[[Olympic Games]]}}
{{MedalGold | [[2006 Winter Olympics|2006 Turin]] | [[Speed skating at the 2006 Winter Olympics – Men's 500 metres|500 m]] }}
{{MedalSilver | [[2006 Winter Olympics|2006 Turin]] | [[Speed skating at the 2006 Winter Olympics – Men's 1000 metres|1000 m]]}}
{{MedalBronze | [[2002 Winter Olympics|2002 Salt Lake City]] | [[Speed skating at the 2002 Winter Olympics – Men's 1000 metres|1000 m]] }}
{{MedalCompetition|[[World Sprint Speed Skating Championships|World Sprint Championships]]}}
{{MedalGold | [[2006 World Sprint Speed Skating Championships|2006 Heerenveen]] | Sprint }}
{{MedalBronze | 2005 Salt Lake City | Sprint }}
{{MedalCompetition|[[World Single Distance Championships for Men|World Single Distance Championships]]}}
{{MedalBronze | [[2003 World Single Distance Speed Skating Championships|2003 Berlin]] | 1000 m }}
{{MedalBronze | [[2003 World Single Distance Speed Skating Championships|2003 Berlin]] | 1500 m }}
}}

'''William Joseph Cheek''' (born June 22, 1979) is an American former [[Speed skating|speed skater]] and [[inline speed skating|inline speed skater]]. He specialized in the short and middle distances and won Olympic gold in 2006. {{as of|2024|post=,}} he is the Executive Vice President of Entrepreneurship for the [[Greensboro Chamber of Commerce]]<ref name="gcoc">{{cite web | url=https://greensboro.org/about/staff/ | title=Staff Directory | publisher=Greensboro Chamber of Commerce | accessdate=14 December 2024 | quote=Joey Cheek  Executive Vice President, Entrepreneurship}}</ref> 

==Accomplishments==
Cheek's breakthrough was in the [[2002 Winter Olympics]] in [[Salt Lake City]], where he won the bronze medal in the 1,000 meters.

In 2003 he won a bronze medal at the [[World Single Distance Championships]] in [[Berlin]] in the 1,000- and 1,500-meter events. Both distances at that tournament were won by [[Netherlands|Dutch]] speed skater [[Erben Wennemars]]. In 2005, Cheek made the podium for the first time in the [[World Sprint Championships]], again behind Wennemars.

On January 22, 2006, in [[Heerenveen]], Cheek became world sprint champion. On [[Aggregate score|aggregate]] he beat [[Dmitry Dorofeyev]] of [[Russia]] and [[Jan Bos]] of the [[Netherlands]].

At the [[2006 Winter Olympics]] in [[Turin, Italy]], Cheek won the men's 500-meter event in dominating style, recording a two-run total time of 1:09.76. That time was 0.65 seconds faster than runner-up Dorofeyev, and Cheek was the only competitor to break the 35-second mark in the competition, doing so in both of his runs (34.82 and 34.94). He went on to win silver in the 1,000-meter race, finishing just behind teammate [[Shani Davis]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.speedskatingstats.com/index.php?file=skater&code=1979062201 |title=Joey Cheek - SpeedSkatingStats.com |access-date=15 October 2016}}</ref>

Cheek was elected by his teammates to carry the US flag into the closing ceremonies.<ref>{{cite Sports-Reference |title=Joey Cheek |url=https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/ch/joey-cheek-1.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200417192022/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/ch/joey-cheek-1.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=17 April 2020 |access-date=9 May 2017}}</ref> Near the end of [[NBC]]'s coverage of the event, commentator [[Bob Costas]] noted that Cheek's application to [[Harvard University]] had not been accepted and lobbied the Dean of Admissions to reconsider the decision. Cheek has since graduated from [[Princeton University]]. At Princeton, Cheek was a member of the [[Ivy Club]]

Cheek planned to attend the [[Beijing 2008 Olympic Games]] in support of athletes on [[Team Darfur]]. His visa was revoked by the Chinese embassy hours before he intended to leave for China.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/08/06/joey-cheek-ex-olympic-spe_n_117237.html | title=HuffPost - Breaking News, U.S. And World News | website=[[HuffPost]] }}</ref>

==Personal life==
Joey Cheek was born on June 22, 1979, in [[Greensboro, North Carolina]]. He picked up speed skating after meeting and watching neighborhood friend Bryan Anderson skate around the neighborhood training for Nationals. After years of skating with Bryan, his brother, and other Piedmont skaters, he switched to ice speed skating. He did this by attending a "from wheels to ice" class in Alaska.

Cheek attended [[James B. Dudley High School]] in [[Greensboro, North Carolina]], and graduated from [[Princeton University]] as a member of the class of 2011, where he studied economics and the [[Chinese language]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.usatoday.com/sports/olympics/torino/2006-05-15-joey-cheek_x.htm?POE=SPOISVA |title=USATODAY.com - U.S. speedskater Cheek charitable beyond years |website=[[USA Today]] |access-date=15 October 2016}}</ref>

Prior to 2019, he was a media entrepreneur.<ref>{{cite web | archive-date=23 August 2018 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180823163755/http://speedskatinghalloffame.com/joey-cheek.html | first1=Jeroen | last1=Savelkouls | url=http://www.speedskatinghalloffame.com/?halloffame=joey_cheek | title=Joey Cheek | work=Speed Skating Hall of Fame | date=28 January 2014 | accessdate=14 December 2024 | quote=Nowadays, the former speed skater is the owner of Dailyhouse.com, an online sports news agency that he set up in 2012. In interview with Business Insider a few years ago Cheek stated that his fascination with the media started at his first Olympics, where he was impressed huge press center that to him resembled a trading floor. “I realize now that was the dawn of this sort of entrepreneurial ambition that made me want to go into media. I love the idea that you’re creating something. It’s not a physical thing necessarily, but you’ve got this sort of factory, so maybe one day, god willing if I work my tail off, I can have a little information factory of my own.”}}</ref>

==Philanthropy==
Cheek is the co-founder and president of [[Team Darfur]], an international coalition of athletes committed to raising awareness about and bringing an end to the crisis in [[Darfur]], [[Sudan]].

At a press conference after the Olympic 500-meter race, Cheek said that he decided to donate his USOC gold medal bonus ($25,000) to [[Right to Play]], an athlete-driven international humanitarian organization formed by former Olympic champion [[Johann Olav Koss]] of [[Norway]]. Cheek challenged others to make similar pledges to the organization. He subsequently donated his prize money from the 1,000-meter race ($15,000) to the same organization.

Since his donation others have joined in and over $390,000 has been contributed to this cause.<ref>[http://www.duluthsuperior.com/mld/duluthsuperior/sports/other_sports/13958107.htm Duluth Superior Sports]  {{dead link|date=May 2016|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref>

{{PersonalRecordsTop}}
{{PersonalRecordsSport| Men's [[speed skating]]}}
{{PersonalRecordsMiddle| 500 m | 34.66  |2001-12-19|[[Salt Lake City, Utah]] | }}
{{PersonalRecordsMiddle| 1000 m | 1:07.29 |2001-12-18 |[[Salt Lake City, Utah]] | }}
{{PersonalRecordsMiddle| 1500 m | 1:44.98 |2004-12-21 |[[Salt Lake City, Utah]] | }}
{{PersonalRecordsMiddle| 3000 m | 3:54.76 |1999-11-26|[[Calgary, Canada]] | }}
{{PersonalRecordsMiddle| 5000 m | 6:42.57 |1999-11-28|[[Calgary, Canada]] | }}
{{PersonalRecordsMiddle| 10000 m | 14:13.81 |2000-01-16|[[Calgary, Canada]] | }}
{{PersonalRecordsBottom}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* {{ISU speed skater|new_id=joey-cheek|old_id=162963}}
* {{Olympics.com|joey-cheek}}
* {{Olympedia}}
* {{InterSportStats|32318}}
* {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061114215853/http://www.nbcolympics.com/athletes/5056853/detail.html |date=November 14, 2006 |title=NBC Olympics Bio}}
* {{Official website|http://www.joeycheek.com/}}

{{Footer Olympic Champions 500m Speed Skating Men}}
{{Footer World Sprint champions Speed Skating Men}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cheek, Joey}}
[[Category:1979 births]]
[[Category:Sportspeople from Greensboro, North Carolina]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:American male speed skaters]]
[[Category:Olympic bronze medalists for the United States in speed skating]]
[[Category:Olympic gold medalists for the United States in speed skating]]
[[Category:Olympic silver medalists for the United States in speed skating]]
[[Category:Speed skaters at the 2002 Winter Olympics]]
[[Category:Speed skaters at the 2006 Winter Olympics]]
[[Category:Medalists at the 2002 Winter Olympics]]
[[Category:Medalists at the 2006 Winter Olympics]]
[[Category:Princeton University alumni]]
[[Category:American activists]]
[[Category:21st-century American sportsmen]]