18 Facts About Joey Cheek

William Joseph Cheek was born on June 22,1979 and is an American former speed skater and inline speed skater.

Joey Cheek specialized in the short and middle distances and won Olympic gold in 2006.

Joey 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 2005, Joey Cheek made the podium for the first time in the World Sprint Championships, again behind Wennemars.

On January 22,2006, in Heerenveen, Joey Cheek became world sprint champion.

At the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy, Joey 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 Joey Cheek was the only competitor to break the 35-second mark in the competition, doing so in both of his runs.

Joey Cheek went on to win silver in the 1,000-meter race, finishing just behind teammate Shani Davis.

Joey Cheek was elected by his teammates to carry the US flag into the closing ceremonies.

Joey Cheek planned to attend the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games in support of athletes on Team Darfur.

Joey Cheek's visa was revoked by the Chinese embassy hours before he intended to leave for China.

Joey Cheek was born on June 22,1979, in Greensboro, North Carolina.

Joey Cheek picked up speed skating after meeting and watching neighborhood friend Bryan Anderson skate around the neighborhood training for Nationals.

Joey Cheek did this by attending a "from wheels to ice" class in Alaska.

Joey 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, Joey Cheek said that he decided to donate his USOC gold medal bonus to Right to Play, an athlete-driven international humanitarian organization formed by former Olympic champion Johann Olav Koss of Norway.

Joey Cheek challenged others to make similar pledges to the organization.

Joey Cheek subsequently donated his prize money from the 1,000-meter race to the same organization.