WORLD CUP 5 Sofia, Bulgaria

[susie]

Four individual medals this weekend. Coach Jae must be so proud of them. Unbelievable!

[bubblebuttsbabe]

Short Trackers Win 3 Golds

By Kim Jae-won
Staff Reporter

South Koreans Jung Eun-ju, Lee Ho-suk and Kwak Yoon-gy both took gold at the International Skating Union (ISU) World Cup Short Track 2008/2009 in Sofia, Bulgaria, Saturday.

It is the fifth stop on the ISU World Cup Short Track 2008/2009 season, which consists of six events.

The Korean team dominated the event, sweeping a total of three gold and two silver medals.

Kwak finished top in the men's 1,000-meter final, while Jung and Lee Ho-suk picked up their medals in the ladies' 1,500-meter final and in the men's 1,500 final.

Jung became the first gold medallist in the cup, clocking 2 minutes 24.411 seconds followed by American Reutter Katherine (2:24.483) and Chinese Zhou Yang (2:24.698). Two other South Koreans, Kim Min-jung and Shin Sae-bom, were ranked fourth and fifth in 2:24:719 and 2:21.081, respectively.

Lee Ho-suk raced to gold in 2:12.439, followed by teammate Sung Si-bak in 2:12.650 for the silver medal. Another Korean, Park Jin-hwan, ranked 5th in 2:12.895.

Kwak Yoon-gy crossed the finish line with a time of 1:25.212 to edge out compatriot Lee Jung-su (1:25.259), who nevertheless added another silver medal for the team.

In the ladies' 1,000-meter final, Wang Meng of China grabbed gold in 1:30.510, followed by teammate Liu Quihong in 1:30.561 and Kalyna Roberge of Canada 0.036 seconds later. Yang Shin-young of South Korea ranked 5th in 1:30.778.

[sk8on]

Our ladies won the bronze in the relay ;D . They were in first place until the final two laps, then listed as fourth, but Japan DQd for what I'm assuming was interference of our team.

Congrats to Katherine, Jeff, Kimberly, and Jordan for their individual medals this weekend as well as the entire team for their performances!

[susie]

Awesome results this weekend! Yay, team! ;D

On to Germany. Safe travels to them.

[mtnme]

Well this was DEFINITELY very good news to wake up to! The weekend turned out well considering the start of it.

Congrats to team USA, and it was GREAT to see (?) Jordan on the podium!

Time to go hunting through getty for more pics, hopefully of podium shots! (that 2nd picture of Allison looks like one of frustration, not pain. Other than the pain of knowing this was gonna be bad....) Speedy recovery to Allison.

[breidy]

Katherine's 1500m Silver Medal finish.

[mtnme]

(photo from shortrackonline.com by way of Peter Doucet's blog)
(what we'll do to find photos....)

Far away and very blurry pic of Katherine's Silver Medal win!


Thanks briedy for that great photo finish!

[sonia]

Hi ST fans,

I came across this short video recap link.

sports.sina.com.cn/o/2009-02-08/00174202905.shtml

It shows a bit of the 500m ladies ending, and the 1000m Ladies race, including podium footage of Katherine. The announcer said the US skaters collided and one was injured and was out of the race. I was worried until I came here and there was no talk of Allison injured and results showed she finished so that was good. Thanks for keeping the ST cheering alive here!

[mtnme]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 8, 2009--Sofia, Bulgaria.
Two-time Olympian Allison Baver (Reading, PA) collided with teammate
Katherine Reutter (Champaign, IL) during the third lap of the Ladies
1500m final at the ISU World Cup Short Track Speedskating event in
Sofia, Bulgaria, leaving Baver with multiple fractures in her right
leg. She will be flying back to Pennsylvania for surgery on Monday.

"She entered the pads in a really bad position and it was impossible
to do anything to avoid this injury," said Laurent Daignault,
National Short Track Assistant coach. "She'll have to have a long
straight cast to keep her leg stable. It looks painful, but she has a
really strong attitude."

After the race resumed, Reutter finished in second place, earning a
silver medal and trip to the podium. In the Ladies 1500m B final,
Jessica Smith (Melvindale, MI) finished first, putting in a strong
performance at her first World Cup Short Track event. Kimberly
Derrick (Memphis, TN) finished fourth in the 1000m and Lana Gehring
(Glenview, IL) finished third in the 1000m B Final.

The U.S. men's team struggled during Friday and Saturday events with
falls and disqualifications. J.R. Celski (Federal Way, WA) was pulled
out of the competition for the rest of the races after two falls in
the relay quarter-final left him with a knee contusion.

"He managed to stand up twice and finish the race," Daignault
said, "and he still qualified for the semi-final. We withdrew him
from the competition because of his condition and to allow him a fast
recovery so he can be in good condition for next weekend and the
World Championships. "

But in Sunday's races, the men recouped with Jeff Simon (Las Vegas,
NV) winning a silver medal in the 500m and Jordan Malone earning a
second-place finish in the second 1000m event.

The team travels to Dresden, Germany for next weekend's ISU World Cup
event and Daignault said they all are hoping for a quick return to
the ice for Baver.

"The team wishes the best recovery for Allison," he said, "All
members of the team have been very helpful and nice to her."

(mmm, did I miss something? I thought Jeff got the bronze...)
Yup, just checked ISU, it still says 3rd...

[breidy]

Thanks Mtnme for posting that article. I had just read that from Peri and also Universal Sports. Multiple fractures to the leg. I'm just sick about that with OTs in September. Does anyone have any idea how we can send our well wishes to Allison?

And I'm so glad to hear that J.R. is resting those knees. It would be okay with me if he sat out WC #6. I'd like to see him in top form for Worlds.

[sonia]

Oh I spoke too soon. Thanks Mtnme for posting the news article. Allison did get injured! But the results did not say DNF. That did not sound good but Allison has shown crazy resillience so wishing her the best in recovery!

[mtnme]

If you want to send well wishes to Allison, you've got a couple of options here. If you go to the following link and under the contact tab, you can leave a message, but it will likely go to Peri and you'll have to hope she passes it on to Allison.

www.usspeedskating.org/

or Option 2.

My understanding is there is an 'athletes mailbox' with USS.
Send your well wish to ATTN: Allison Baver, c/o USS. She may be in Pennsylvania for awhile if that is where she is having surgery.

US Speedskating
5662 South 4800 West
Kearns, UT 84118

or option 3.
we start a seperate 'well wish' thread for Allison here at GA, you post away, and I'll send the link to Dixie Baver to pass on to Allison.
(If it's option 3, let me know so I know to e-mail Dixie)


Your wellwishes won't heal her leg any faster, but I'm sure it will heal her spirit.

[breidy]

Thanks Mtnme for the direction on well wishes for Allison. I think Option 3 is the best. At least we know Dixie will pass those wishes along to Allison.

Lindsey, I'm going to start a thread on the General Board but if it needs to be moved please do so. Thank you.

[susie]

Here's another photo of Katherine racing. It's an AP photo off of a Bulgarian website.



Any of the options for well-wishes to Allison are fine by me.

[bubblebuttsbabe]

Feb 8, 2009 13:31:36 GMT -5 sonia said:

Oh I spoke too soon. Thanks Mtnme for posting the news article. Allison did get injured! But the results did not say DNF. That did not sound good but Allison has shown crazy resillience so wishing her the best in recovery!

hi sonia! the results do show a DNF. the points in her overall standing are from her semifinal.