KEARNS, Utah — Heather Richardson clinched a spot in her third Olympic event by winning the 1,500 meters Tuesday at the U.S. Speedskating Championships.

Richardson added the 1,500 to the spots she had already clinched in the 500 and 1,000 for the Vancouver Games, which will be the first Olympics for the 20-year-old from High Point, N.C.

Richardson's time of 1:56.03 at the Utah Olympic Oval on Tuesday was 2.03 faster than she had ever gone in the distance.

Brian Hansen clinched his first Olympic berth with a third-place finish in the men's 1,500. Chad Hedrick won the race and Trevor Marsicano was second, but both had already locked up Olympic berths in the 1,500. Hedrick has been fighting a stomach bug this week but still managed to skate a time of 1:44.00, beating Marsicano by 0.33 seconds.

Hedrick and Marsicano were the final pairing, so Hansen already knew he could finish no worse than third, which was all he needed to clinch the fourth U.S. spot in the 1,500. He joins Hedrick, the three-time Olympic medalist in Turin in 2006, Marsicano and world record holder Shani Davis, who did not skate Tuesday.

The American women have three spots in the 1,500 meters in Vancouver and the final one was still open entering Tuesday's competition.

Richardson, who switched from inline skating to ice barely two years ago, was already in the Vancouver lineup for the two shorter distances, skated the best 1,500 of her career and beating second-place Nancy Swider-Peltz Jr. by 2.51 seconds.

The U.S. roster for the 1,500 will be Richardson, Jilleanne Rookard and Jennifer Rodriguez, who is headed to her third Olympics.