Jennifer Rodriguez (born June 8, 1976 in Miami, FL) is a Cuban-American speed skater. She started her career as an artistic roller skater, winning multiple national championships and placing second and third at world championships. Later she switched to inline speed skating and became world champion in 1993. Her inline speed coach was Bob Manning.
In 1996 she made another career move by giving it a try on ice, in order to have a chance to make the Olympic Team. This was a success, and she participated in the 1998, 2002, 2006 and 2010 Winter Olympics, winning two bronze medals in Salt Lake City in 2002. She is also known by the nicknames Miami Ice and J-Rod "dame cucita".
She was married to American speed skater KC Boutiette, who was the first to switch from inline speed skating to ice skating and motivated Rodriguez to do the same.
| Personal records | ||||
| Women's speed skating | ||||
| Distance | Time | Date | Location | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 500 m | 37.87 | 2005-11-19 | Salt Lake City, Utah | |
| 1000 m | 1:14.05 | 2003-12-12 | Salt Lake City, Utah | |
| 1500 m | 1:54.61 | 2005-11-20 | Salt Lake City, Utah | |
| 3000 m | 4:04.99 | February 10, 2002 | Salt Lake City, Utah | |
| 5000 m | 7:07.93 | December 22, 2001 | Salt Lake City, Utah | |
Famous quotes containing the word rodriguez:
“The genius of American culture and its integrity comes from fidelity to the light. Plain as day, we say. Happy as the day is long. Early to bed, early to rise. American virtues are daylight virtues: honesty, integrity, plain speech. We say yes when we mean yes and no when we mean no, and all else comes from the evil one. America presumes innocence and even the right to happiness.”
—Richard Rodriguez (b. 1944)