Once, U.S. Olympic speedskaters hailed almost exclusively from the Midwest, from places such as West Allis and Madison and Champaign, Ill., where they grew up skating on frozen ponds or…

Once, U.S. Olympic speedskaters hailed almost exclusively from the Midwest, from places such as West Allis and Madison and Champaign, Ill., where they grew up skating on frozen ponds or…