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RICHMOND, British Columbia (AP) -- Ryan Bedford wanted to make an impression in his Olympic debut.
That he did.
The American speed skater took the ice for Tuesday's 10,000m with a 'do that would've won gold if outrageous hairstyles were an Olympic sport. His head was shaved and colored to resemble an American flag, with red stripes flowing over the right side, while the left side was blue with stars carved out.
For good measure, he had the Olympic rings drawn out on the back.
"My teammate Chad Hedrick and I were joking around last night and he said, 'Let's do something crazy,"' Bedford said. "He came up with the idea of the shave. We weren't really thinking it was going to end up like this."
Bedford said a stylist worked on his hair Monday night, taking several hours to get the look just right. Wearing a baseball cap, he hid the design from most people until he came out to the oval to warm up for his lone individual race of the Olympics.
"It's something I wanted to do, something to represent the USA," he said.
The Vancouver Olympics and the medals race both finished in spectacular fashion for North Americans. The United States won 37 medals and Canada finished with 14 gold medals. Both are the best of these games and part of the greatest hauls ever at a Winter Olympics.
With one more perfect run down sliding's most difficult track, Steve Holcomb drove USA-1 to the Olympic gold medal in four-man bobsledding on Saturday, ending a 62-year drought for the Americans in the event.
