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Post by bubblebuttsbabe on Mar 5, 2009 7:44:53 GMT -5
LINK: www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20090305.WCPREVIEW05/TPStory/National- - - - - - SPEED SKATING: CANADIAN SHORT TRACKERS HAVE EXTRA INCENTIVEBEVERLEY SMITH March 5, 2009 There is more at stake for Canadian short-track speed skaters this weekend at the world championships in Vienna than just medals. The competition is also an opportunity for two of them to qualify early for the Winter Olympics next year. The top male and female Canadian at the meet could get a ticket to Vancouver.Generally, Canadians will have to face Olympic selection trials in August at the Olympic site, the Pacific Coliseum. They will have to race each distance at least twice, and Speed Skating Canada will select athletes for each distance, based on the results. This will be a stressful process for the athletes, because many have already shown they can win medals on the international scene. Their own domestic competition might be more fierce. More National Stories At this point, the short trackers still won't know their Olympic quotas for events in Vancouver. They won't find out until after two specially-designated World Cup events in Montreal and in Marquette, Mich., in the fall. Based on results there, countries will find out how many skaters they can send to the Olympics. Once Speed Skating Canada knows what slots they get, then they will fill them with their qualified athletes.Long-track speed skating has a similar system. It is entirely unlike what happens in figure skating, which is governed by the same international body, the International Skating Union. Results at the world figure skating championships will determine how many skaters and what countries are able to compete at the Vancouver Olympics. Speed-skating world championships have no bearing on quotas for Olympics. Speed skaters will find out much later in the season if they can get to the Olympics than figure skaters do. That's why this weekend, the Canadian short trackers will have extra incentive to get good results at the world championships: to qualify early and reduce stress heading into the Olympics. But just one man and one woman will be able to take advantage of the qualification, which allows the top male and female athlete in all individual events except the 3,000 metres to get an Olympic berth.So what if Charles Hamelin of Sainte-Julie, Que., and François-Louis Tremblay of Montreal finish 1-2 in the individual rankings at this world championship? Then only Hamelin would qualify. There is a need for Canadians to re-establish themselves as a force at the world championships. Canada didn't do as well as they'd hoped last year, winning just five medals, none of them gold. - - - - - - As much as I love the idea - I don't think this is the right venue to be using for such an important qualification. I hope they prove me wrong. GO CANADA!! ;D
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Post by gasp on Mar 5, 2009 10:42:40 GMT -5
I agree 3B. There will be some all-out skating going on amongst the Canadians that could push them to make some aggressive passes that might result in lots of skaters tumbling down. Will certainly make watching the flashing numbers loads of fun (?) at 5 a.m. Friday morning.
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sk8er
Full Member
Posts: 145
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Post by sk8er on Mar 5, 2009 11:16:00 GMT -5
Yes this as indeed the same problem at Worlds in Goteburg, Sweden in 2004. They had bid for the event offering a fine ice stadium. HOCKEY folks wanted it, and hey, what hockey wants hockey gets. They stuck us in a dim, dank creepy old place where the rink was actually about a foot short of regulation! Of course for elite skaters that foot meant a lot, you can really "feel" things like that when you skate at that level. Rusty Smith nearly got his nose completely cut off; Jo Guillemette gets his back broken when Seung Jai Lee of Korea deliberately trips him and two girls get hauled off on stretchers. And the food at the awards banquet was awful! Apolo got up and sneaked off down the street to McDonalds! Seems to me that when a country deliberately fails to live up to contractual obligations there should be some penalities. I sure hope Wags gets us some info fast.
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Post by mtnme on Mar 5, 2009 11:38:20 GMT -5
Yes this as indeed the same problem at Worlds in Goteburg, Sweden in 2003. They had bid for the event offering a fine ice stadium. HOCKEY folks wanted it, and hey, what hockey wants hockey gets. They stuck us in a dim, dank creepy old place where the rink was actually about a foot short of regulation! Of course for elite skaters that foot meant a lot, you can really "feel" things like that when you skate at that level. Rusty Smith nearly got his nose completely cut off; Jo Guillemette gets his back broken when Seung Jai Lee of Korea deliberately trips him and two girls get hauled off on stretchers. And the food at the awards banquet was awful! Apolo got up and sneaked off down the street to McDonalds! Seems to me that when a country deliberately fails to live up to contractual obligations there should be some penalities. I sure hope Wags gets us some info fast. YEAH!!! What she said!!!... LOL _________________________________________________________________________________________ But on to other news..... UPDATE FROM USSMarch 6, 2009--Vienna, Austria Last year at the 2008 World Short Track Championships, five Americans ranked in the top twelve skaters in overall classification including Apolo Anton Ohno (Seattle, WA) who earned his, and the country's, first World Championship title for short track speedskating. Of these five skaters, three are returning to the 2009 World Short Track Championships in Vienna, Austria on March 6-8, 2009. Ohno, Jeff Simon (Las Vegas, NV) and Katherine Reutter (Champaign, IL) return to championship ice along with teammates J.R. Celski (Federal Way, WA), Jordan Malone (Denton, TX), Ryan Bedford (Midland, MI), Kimberly Derrick (Memphis, TN), Jessica Smith (Melvindale, MI), Lana Gehring (Glenview, IL) and Alyson Dudek (Hales Corner, WI). Of the 10 skaters participating at the World Championships, six of them have earned individual world cup medals this year. Plus, both the men's and ladies' relay teams have won gold during the world cup season. "We are so proud of the progress made by the US Speedskating Short Track Team, both men and ladies," said Bob Crowley, USS Executive Director. "We have incredibly dedicated athletes, a top-notch coaching staff and a fantastic training environment which has all led to the success thus far this season." This year, Team USA won 24 world cup medals, doubling the medal count from the previous short track season. Skaters like Simon, Derrick, Celski and Reutter have won multiple medals with other teammates contributing to the medal count. Olympian Allison Baver (Sinking Spring, PA) earned three bronze medals this season and was scheduled to skate at the World Championships. However, her right leg was fractured during the Short Track World Cup #5 in Sofia, Bulgaria and she is out of competition for the rest of the season. The racing schedule for the World Short Track Championship event is as follows: Friday, March 6 Noon 1500m Ladies and Men Ladies' 3000m Relay, Semi-Final Saturday, March 7 Noon 500m Ladies and Men Men's 5000m Relay, Semi-Final Sunday, March 8 11:00 1000m and 3000m Super Final Ladies and Men Ladies and Men Relay Finals |
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Post by Lori on Mar 5, 2009 12:03:07 GMT -5
ALY DUDEK IS THERE! ;D
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Post by gasp on Mar 5, 2009 12:37:01 GMT -5
From SportsArenaTv
World Short Track Speed Skating Championships in Vienna
Follow the whole event on the internet
Vienna is ready: The "ISU World Short Track Speed Skating Championships" 2009 will take place from Friday, March 6, to Sunday, March 8, in the Ferry-Dusika-Stadium. It is for the first time that World championships are held in an adapted hall, not in a ordinary indoor ice rink. After the first offical training on Thursday, the athletes were very satisfied with the conditions. "The ice is very fast, we are looking forward to many new records", says Marek Stanuch, Competition Manager of the Austrian Speed Skating Association. 156 skaters from 33 countries will take part in the event, more than ever before at any ISU World Short Track Speed Skating Championships.
The Opening Ceremony takes places tomorrow, Friday, at 11:30 a.m. The first competition over 1.500 meters for ladies and men starts at 12:00. Drawings and the official entry list will be available on-line today from 21:00 p.m. on the website of the International Skating Union ISU. During the event, this website and the offical website of the event will also provide live-data and live-results.
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Post by gasp on Mar 5, 2009 12:38:05 GMT -5
Yippee for Dudek
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Post by mtnme on Mar 5, 2009 13:00:28 GMT -5
woohoo! Thanks for that gasp! Here is the link to sportarena TV and it has a little video on the event and some shots of Vienna. (is the video hanging up a bit for everyone else? or is mine just slow?....) Praying to the Good Lord in heaven above....dare we even hope for a live feed for this event? ....*place begging emotie here*  www.sportarena.tv/stage5/tv.php |
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Post by gasp on Mar 5, 2009 13:07:23 GMT -5
The link worked for me.
List of things to do: Order the German Rosetta Stone program.
LOL
Did you google the Hilton in Vienna where the team is staying? I hope they all get rooms with a view of the Danube. Spectacular!
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Post by sk8on on Mar 5, 2009 13:24:33 GMT -5
woohoo! Thanks for that gasp! Here is the link to sportarena TV and it has a little video on the event and some shots of Vienna. (is the video hanging up a bit for everyone else? or is mine just slow?....) Praying to the Good Lord in heaven above....dare we even hope for a live feed for this event? ....*place begging emotie here* www.sportarena.tv/stage5/tv.phpThe link worked fine for me, mtnme. I'll pray with you, but unfortunately I don't think we'll get live video from this site---the quote "during the event, this website and the offical website of the event will also provide live- data and live- results" makes me think it will be something very much akin to what ISU does. Hope I'm wrong though... ETA: the "this website" may actually have been referring to the ISU site. Oh, heck...forget it... I'll just keep fingers crossed that we'll get live video somewhere and if not then ISU numbers it is. Plus, Universal will have "on demand" video of the event later on. |
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Post by skaterswaltz on Mar 5, 2009 14:05:13 GMT -5
The link is hanging up for me, too, but it looks so beautiful there!
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Post by skaterswaltz on Mar 5, 2009 16:00:41 GMT -5
Article on Universal Sport's website today: -------------------- Ohno returns to the Worlds, seeks another title
Thu Mar 05, 2009 By US Speedskating
www.universalsports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=23000&ATCLID=3685004Apolo Anton Ohno will try to win his second straight world short track title in Austria this weekend. VIENNA, Austria -- Last year at the World Short Track Speed Skating Championships, five Americans ranked in the top 12 skaters in overall classification, including Apolo Anton Ohno, who earned his -- and the country’s -- first world short track title. Of these five skaters, three are returning to the 2009 World Short Track Championships in Vienna, Austria, this weekend. Ohno, Jeff Simon and Katherine Reutter return to championship ice, along with teammates J.R. Celski, Jordan Malone, Ryan Bedford, Kimberly Derrick, Jessica Smith, Lana Gehring and Alyson Dudek. Of the 10 skaters participating at the World Championships, six of them have earned individual World Cup medals this year. Plus, both the men’s and ladies’ relay teams have won gold during the World Cup season. “We are so proud of the progress made by the US Speedskating Short Track Team, both men and ladies,” said Bob Crowley, USS Executive Director. “We have incredibly dedicated athletes, a top-notch coaching staff and a fantastic training environment which has all led to the success thus far this season.” This year, Team USA won 24 World Cup medals, doubling the medal count from the previous short track season. Skaters like Simon, Derrick, Celski and Reutter have won multiple medals, with other teammates contributing to the overall count as well. Olympian Allison Baver earned three bronze medals this season and was scheduled to skate at the World Championships. However, she fractured her right leg during the World Cup stop in Sofia, Bulgaria, and she is out of competition for the rest of the season. Tune into UniversalSports.com starting March 10 for on-demand video of the Worlds in Austria.--------------------------------- Dang, Universal Sports. Why can't you broadcast it LIVE? You broadcast Curling competitions live, for goodness sake. |
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Post by Mars on Mar 5, 2009 16:03:53 GMT -5
Article on Universal Sport's website today: -------------------- Ohno returns to the Worlds, seeks another title
Thu Mar 05, 2009 By US Speedskating
www.universalsports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=23000&ATCLID=3685004Apolo Anton Ohno will try to win his second straight world short track title in Austria this weekend. VIENNA, Austria -- Last year at the World Short Track Speed Skating Championships, five Americans ranked in the top 12 skaters in overall classification, including Apolo Anton Ohno, who earned his -- and the country’s -- first world short track title. Of these five skaters, three are returning to the 2009 World Short Track Championships in Vienna, Austria, this weekend. Ohno, Jeff Simon and Katherine Reutter return to championship ice, along with teammates J.R. Celski, Jordan Malone, Ryan Bedford, Kimberly Derrick, Jessica Smith, Lana Gehring and Alyson Dudek. Of the 10 skaters participating at the World Championships, six of them have earned individual World Cup medals this year. Plus, both the men’s and ladies’ relay teams have won gold during the World Cup season. “We are so proud of the progress made by the US Speedskating Short Track Team, both men and ladies,” said Bob Crowley, USS Executive Director. “We have incredibly dedicated athletes, a top-notch coaching staff and a fantastic training environment which has all led to the success thus far this season.” This year, Team USA won 24 World Cup medals, doubling the medal count from the previous short track season. Skaters like Simon, Derrick, Celski and Reutter have won multiple medals, with other teammates contributing to the overall count as well. Olympian Allison Baver earned three bronze medals this season and was scheduled to skate at the World Championships. However, she fractured her right leg during the World Cup stop in Sofia, Bulgaria, and she is out of competition for the rest of the season. Tune into UniversalSports.com starting March 10 for on-demand video of the Worlds in Austria.--------------------------------- Dang, Universal Sports. Why can't you broadcast it LIVE? You broadcast Curling competitions live, for goodness sake. I'm just happy they're providing video. I can't wait ;D |
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Post by gasp on Mar 5, 2009 16:36:20 GMT -5
March 10th is probably one of the fast turn-arounds yet. Woo Hoo
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Post by bubblebuttsbabe on Mar 5, 2009 17:57:55 GMT -5
Yes this as indeed the same problem at Worlds in Goteburg, Sweden in 2004. They had bid for the event offering a fine ice stadium. HOCKEY folks wanted it, and hey, what hockey wants hockey gets. They stuck us in a dim, dank creepy old place where the rink was actually about a foot short of regulation! Of course for elite skaters that foot meant a lot, you can really "feel" things like that when you skate at that level. Rusty Smith nearly got his nose completely cut off; Jo Guillemette gets his back broken when Seung Jai Lee of Korea deliberately trips him and two girls get hauled off on stretchers. And the food at the awards banquet was awful! Apolo got up and sneaked off down the street to McDonalds! Seems to me that when a country deliberately fails to live up to contractual obligations there should be some penalities. I sure hope Wags gets us some info fast. I REMEMBER THAT! that was some scary ish right there. :[ |
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~Lori
)