That's speedskating12/21/2008
CHESTERFIELD — Drama surrounded defending champions Apolo Anton Ohno and Katherine Reutter on Saturday in the U.S. Short Track Championships at Hardee's Iceplex.
Ohno finished third in the men's 500 meters — the second time around. Referees stopped the first attempt at the race on the third of 4½ laps with Ohno about to pass Jordan Malone for first place. Ohno stumbled and fell, causing J.R. Celski and Travis Jayner to fall into the boards as well.
Confusion ensued before the restart, while referees determined whether Ohno should be disqualified. After being allowed to race, Ohno took the lead on the first lap and held it until the end of the final turn, when his skate clipped one of the blocks used to determine the inside boundary of the track. He fell again, taking Malone with him. Jayner skated around the sprawled pair and won the race in 43.958 seconds. Malone crossed just before Ohno.
"The second race sucked because I was five feet from winning another gold," said Ohno. "But like I said, the goal was top 3 in each race."Ohno maintained his lead in the overall standings. Celski is in second and Jeff Simon is third.
Reutter, a native of Champaign, Ill., was disqualified in the semifinals of the women's 500 for impeding an opponent. Kimberly Derrick finished first in the final in 45.984, ahead of Maria Garcia, Allison Dudek and Allison Baver. Derrick moved ahead of Reutter in the overall standings with three events remaining Sunday. The top five men and women in the overall rankings after the final event will comprise the U.S. team at world cup events in February and the world championships in March.
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Oh Apolo, you make me laugh! ;D
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U.S. Short Track Championships offer a chance to look ahead to 2010 Vancouver OlynpicsBy Kathleen Nelson
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
12/21/2008
CHESTERFIELD — With a haul of 75 Olympic medals, speedskating has been the bread and butter of the U.S. Winter Olympic teams. The American teams may disappoint in hockey, may hot dog a bit too much in freestyle skiing or half-pipe, may grab a medal or two on the slopes or among the sequined crowd, and may not even show up for biathlon.
But the speedskaters on the long track and short track teams deliver the goods in gold, silver and bronze.
With the U.S. Short Track Championships in town just 14 months before the 2010 Games in Vancouver, the temptation to look into the crystal ball is irresistible for Bob Crowley, executive director of U.S. Speedskating.
"We have the Olympic team right here," he said, surveying the lobby of Hardee's Iceplex. "We just don't know who they are."
In recent Olympics and world championships, short track has tended to be a four-horse race. The Koreans tend to lead the way, though the Chinese, Canadian and U.S. teams make up a solid chase pack. With the exception of a few individual skaters, the rest of the world lags behind.
The talent pools are so deep in Korea and China that the national teams have turned over nearly all their skaters every four years. The U.S. team expects to take a different approach, Crowley said, probably combining two-time Olympians — such as Allison Baver, injured St. Louisan J.P. Kepka and Apolo Anton Ohno — with youngsters, such as Champaign's Katherine Reutter.
"I've been in the sport for quite a long time," said Ohno, just 26. "I've skated against four generations of Korean skaters, three generations of Chinese skaters. That's what makes our team unique. We have veterans, but we have so many young faces and will continue to get stronger and faster every year."
Baver and Reutter are ranked ninth and 11th overall, respectively, in the world cup rankings through three events and have developed a friendly rivalry that has raised the team's status. But the women's team hasn't won an Olympic medal since 1994, which is why Baver said she hopes to return for a third chance.
"I wasn't satisfied in 2002 or 2006," she said, noting that she fell in the 500 in Turin and feels that she has unfinished business.
"We are very excited about our women's team," Crowley said. "They are winning world cup medals more consistently. There's greater depth in the program, and we have a good crop of younger women."
Winner of five Olympic medals, Ohno remains the standard bearer for the U.S. men. He committed to another four years after Turin, in part because the Games in Vancouver are close to his hometown of Seattle, and he launched his career training and competing in the Pacific Northwest.
He also is one medal shy of matching Bonnie Blair's record for most Olympic medals by a U.S. skater.
But the rest of the U.S. men have turned in solid performances, including a victory over their rivals at world team championship in March. More recently, Anthony Lobello won a silver medal, Jeff Simon and the team of Ohno, Simon, Lobello and J.R. Celski won the relay.
"Apolo is one of the greatest in the history of speedskating," Crowley said.
Perhaps U.S. Speedskating's smartest move was to "circle the wagons," as Crowley said, consolidating its long track and short track programs in Salt Lake City two years ago. The skaters have developed an esprit d'corps from daily training, and the sport has cut costs in the process.
"We have all the ice time we need. We have our own everything," said Jordan Malone, a former inline world champion making the transition to short track. "Everything is directed to us."
U.S. Speedskating has lofty goals for Vancouver. The record medal count for a U.S. speed skating team is 11, in 2002. Crowley said the governing body had worked with the U.S. Olympic Committee in setting a goal for 2010 but wouldn't be specific, other than, "we're going to be aggressive."
Ohno was more expansive.
"In 2002, the results on paper were phenomenal," he said. "For Vancouver, they're shooting for that and beyond. All of our coaches want us on top of the podium for each event. There's a lot of extra push."PHOTO:
Apolo Anton Ohno (21) and Jeffrey Simon compete through the final laps of the 1,500-meter race on Friday during the U.S. Short Track Championships at the Hardee's Iceplex in Chesterfield. Ohno finished first with a time of 2:23.927 and Simon finished second.
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Speedskating: Jayner, Derrick win 500-meter finals Associated Press
CHESTERFIELD, Mo. — A late crash by Apolo Anton Ohno allowed Travis Jayner to win the 500-meter final today at the U.S Short Track Speedskating Championship.
The wild finish completed a confusing race that the referee ordered rerun.
Kimberly Derrick captured a smoothly run women's final.
Ohno was in the lead when he tripped over a block coming out of the final turn of the last lap and took Jordan Malone to the ice. Jayner won in 43.958 seconds and Malone recovered to take second in 44.498. He was followed by Ohno and J.R. Celski.
Ohno fell going into the third turn during the initial running of the final and was followed to the ice by Jayner and Celski. The referee quickly whistled the race dead because he determined the results of the race would have been skewed because of the three falls.
After some confusion whether Ohno should be disqualified, the race was held again with all four competitors. Ohno, who won a gold medal in the 500 at the 2006 Olympics, took the lead from the start in the second running and held it until his late fall.
In the women's race, Derrick held the lead from the start and finished in 45.984 seconds. Maria Garcia took second in 46.032 and was followed by Alyson Dudek and Allison Baver.
Competitors earn points based on their finish in five events. The top five men and top five women will represent the U.S. at the World Cup events in February and the World Championships in Vienna in March.
Ohno has the overall lead with 2,140 points, followed by J.R. Celski and Jeffrey Simon. Derrick is first for the women with 2,200, followed by Katherine Reutter and Alyson Dudek.
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AP PHOTO:
Apolo Ohno, left, and Jordan Malone (43) collide feet from the finish line during the 500 meter final at U.S. Short Track Speedskating Championships Saturday, Dec. 20, 2008, in Chesterfield, Mo. Malone slide across to finish second with Ohno finishing third behind Travis Jayner in first. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
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BLOG POST:
ironmaven.blogspot.com/2008/12/short-track-speed-skating-nationals-in.html[IT INCLUDES PICTURES THAT I'M NOT POSTING - I FOUND THE BLOGGER'S ACTUAL WORDS MORE INTERESTING...if that's at all possible
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These images are from the men's 500 m B and A finals today at the Short Track Speed Skating Nats. We paid a whopping $5 to see the best men and women short track speedskaters in the country race. It was fun to walk right in and see a final featuring Apolo Anton Ohno. He ended up 3rd, after crashing out not once, but twice. They restarted the race after AO took out two other guys on the third lap of the first race. After much deliberation, the officials did not disqualify him and allowed him to start again. AAO led after the second lap and then fell again about 20 m from the finish on the straight away, taking out another dude with him. Not a good day for AAO.
The AD and I both think he should have been DQ'd after the first crash. Someone in the lobby of the rink was showing a nice high definition replay of the first crash and you could clearly see AAO grab the arm of the guy next to him and take him down.Of course, there is very little local media coverage of this national championship event. Reminds me of a weightlifting nationals, only there are a few more people in the stands and it isn't being held in some dank hotel ballroom. Same volunteer officials with their blue blazers on doing all the work. Very talented athletes toiling in anonymity, with some serious glutes and quads packed in their high-tech uniforms. Mostly families and friends cheering them on.
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Did anyone else see that? AAO grabbing someone? Hmmmm...
I love it!!!!
Hi sk8on and anyone else who is here---Washington state is having blizzards in the Cascades and we have over a foot of snow here in Olympia --I know that is not a lot for some of you but in this state it is cause for a freak out and power outages--so far I still have a webcam---hoping Apolo, JR and Jeff and all the skaters have a good day today---
