MEN: PARRA'S MAGICAL RIDE COMES TO END.

Byline: Paul Oberjuerge Staff Writer

KEARNS, Utah - Derek Parra's remarkable Salt Lake 2002 Winter Games ended with a whimper, but after the big bangs he produced the first two weeks here, no one was disappointed, least of all the double-medalist from San Bernardino.

Parra lopped more than 11 seconds off his personal best but finished an exhausted 13th in the grueling 10,000-meter speedskating event Friday at the Utah Olympic Oval.

``The 10K is not my specialty, but I had a good race,'' he said. ``I got heavy legs (about the 10th of 25 laps) and I got really tired.''

Parra led Jochem Uytdehaage of the Netherlands for four laps early but said he didn't feel like a ``rabbit'' for the skater who went on to break the world record and win the gold medal in 12 minutes, 58.92 seconds, the first 10K under the 13-minute barrier.

``If anything,'' Parra said with a smile, ``I was hoping he would pull me to a bronze.''

Parra and Uytdehaage finished 1-2 in the 1,500, reversing their order in the earlier 5,000, but Parra was not in Uytdehaage's class in the 10K. Another Dutchman, former world-record holder Gianni Romme, was second and Lasse Saetre of Norway third.

Parra's time was 13:33.44.

He had a memorable Olympics, beginning with his participation as a bearer of the World Trade Center flag in Opening Ceremonies, then on to his short-lived world record in the 5K and his silver medal the next day, capped by his world record and gold in the 1,500 on Tuesday.

He earned $40,000 from the U.S. Olympic Committee, $25,000 for his gold and $15,000 for the silver.

Originally, he was not entered in the elite, 16-man 10K field, but his high finish in the 5K qualified him for the race, and his coach, Bart Schouten, encouraged him to give it a try. It was only his third 10K of the skate season.

``The 5K silver was a surprise,'' Schouten said. ``Not to sound arrogant, but we aimed for the 1,500 all along. He skated world-record times in practice, and we were planning on him going 1:43 (1:43.95, to be exact) because we pretty much knew he would need a world record to win the race.''

Parra conceded he felt tired before the 10K; he did another round of interviews and appearances on Wednesday, after winning gold the night before, and hadn't recovered by Friday.