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RICHMOND, British Columbia — Illinois junior-to-be Jonathan Kuck made his Olympics debut Tuesday, finishing in eighth place — and tops among Americans — in the 10,000 meters longtrack speedskating event.

On academic leave at Illinois, Kuck finished in 13 minutes, 31.78 seconds..

"It's really great to be here supporting the U.S.," Kuck said. "I was really dying there at the end. I was just trying to make it through."

Kuck, an Urbana Uni High grad whose parents live in Champaign, was in third place early on.

"I would say (the race) is mainly physical," he said. "It probably takes a certain mindset to do it.

"If I'd raced the race conservatively it would have been a really big personal record."

Lee Seung-hoon of South Korea won the race after Sven Kramer disqualified.