MILWAUKEE — Back in 2010, the kids in Mrs. Johnson’s classroom at Jeremy Ranch Elementary School in Park City, Utah, made a bold prediction: One of their own, 10-year-old Casey Dawson, would one day compete in the Olympics. So confident in their prophecy were Dawson’s classmates that Mrs. Johnson crafted a certificate to mark the occasion.

Dawson was brand new to speed skating at the time, this after a dalliance with skiing, but the kids liked what they were seeing. And it turns out these now-20-somethings from that fifth-grade class were really on their game about Dawson, who’ll soon be heading to his second Olympics. Having competed in the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing (he was part of the U.S. entry that took home a bronze in the men’s team pursuit), he’s now a stronger, wiser and, perhaps most importantly, healthier 25-year-old as he prepares for Milan.

Already ticketed to be the lone representative from the United States in the 10,000-meter, Dawson added the 5,000-meter to his schedule Friday night by posting a time of 6 minutes, 12.857 seconds at the U.S. Olympic trials at the Pettit National Ice Center. He outpaced second-place finisher Ethan Cepuran (6:19.335) by more than six seconds.

In the women’s 3,000-meter, Greta Myers won in 4:06.799. The U.S. did not earn an Olympic quota spot in the women’s long distances, so Myers is currently the first alternate to compete in the 3,000 in Milan if another country drops out. The U.S. trials will continue through Monday.

Finishing first in the 5,000 is big stuff for Dawson, mainly because of what it could mean for Team USA in Milan — but also for what it could mean for him personally.

Casey Dawson, right, beat Ethan Cepuran in the 5,000-meter Friday at the U.S. Olympic trials, earning another shot at an Olympic medal in the distance after COVID disrupted his Beijing plans. (Howard Fendrich / AP)

Let’s begin with Team USA: No American has medaled in the 5,000 since Chad Hedrick won the gold in 2006. That’s 20 years ago, a lifetime in the Olympics. Dawson could end that drought. In November, he won a World Cup race in the 5,000-meter in Calgary, Alberta, and ranks in the top five distance skaters in the world.

For Dawson, four years ago, he passed the test — that is, the competitive test — and qualified for Beijing in the 5,000 and 1,500. It was a COVID-19 test that kept him from competing. Dawson came down with COVID, he said, two or three weeks before traveling to Beijing. He came up positive “for 50 straight tests and couldn’t go over for the (beginning) of the Games, and I missed the opening ceremonies and the 5,000-meter.”

“And then I showed up 12 hours before my 1,500-meter,” Dawson said. “So I got kind of screwed over from that point of view. But this time around, I’m just looking forward to getting there smoothly and just being a little bit redemptive. It’s kind of fun to have my villain arc, I would call it. Coming back and having some fun.”