Apolo's Competition

[Lori]

Monette is not listed on the current Candian team (Guilmette, Turcotte, Bedard, Tremblay, Hamelin). He IS listed on the seniors team. Where is my guy Olivier Jean? I had thought he was on the team - anybody know?

Elsa, in your last link I'm laughing - is that Jordan Malone with the huge loops on his ears in the center photo? I'd love to know that story...

Re: Tigerlilly's 2:04pm post - the first photo:
I remember some discussion waaay back that the designer of those 'diaper-shadow' Canadian skinsuits should be arrested by the fashion police. LOL! And the Cheerios logo just added to the preschool persona. (Don't shoot me, I'm just repeating what I read!) I LOVE the Canucks, except when the Yanks are skating!

More karma? I'm not worthy! (thank you) *smooch*

[elsa]

Am I just not seeing things too well or does Ahn have tiny little hands in this photo?

ozannex.typepad.com/photos/2006worlds_banquet/dsc_2953_600.html

and in the picture with the baby, it looks like Ahn is wearing a wedding ring! (if they follow the same ring traditions in Korea as they do here)

And isn't "Kimo" the fan of Apolo's whose girlfriend bought a dinner with him - and then they sort of became real friends or something? What the heck is he doing posing with Ahn at a banquet that Apolo didn't even attend?? Any friend of Apolo's is a friend of Ahn? - is that how it goes?

And in some article I read, Apolo was asked to name his "dream team" of relay skaters - and Marc Gagnon was on it -- and so was Ahn! (I don't think there were any other Korean skaters - wish I could remember the list - or remember where I stored the article, lol - I have 100s thanks to a much-beloved-by-me poster here named Olympia who has a stockpile of Apolo goodies like you would not believe !! I was reading an article about Apolo today from when he was 13 years old !!!) It said that he and Yuki got an offer for him to live in Lake Placid even then (at 13) -- course his birthday is May so maybe he got the offer in the spring to go there in the summer after he turned 14 which would jive with the oft-told story...

I have NO idea, Lori, what's going on with Jordan's ears!! Talk about a WILD guy. I'm worried he's gonna kill himself before he quits short-track. Didn't he crash into a wall in Europe somewhere and have to have his jaw and face rebuilt because he smashed it so badly? He's a walking accident waiting to happen. I know Apolo likes him a lot - but I bet he's real nervous when Jordan's skating with him. There's a video (link below) where Jordan wildly darts in front of Apolo, beating him in the 1000m final -- but Apolo immediately holds up his hand, and, of course, Jordan is disqualified (it was at Nationals in '07 - and the bit where Jordan darts in front of Apolo is at the 18 minute point of the 20 minute video which shows alot of the heats and finals, with Apolo winning in every race he's in. Apolo has #1 on his helmet - and Malone has #2 (except in an early race, Anthony Lobello had #2 on his helmet):

www.vimeo.com/179236

ETA: And heartfelt thanks!! to whoever gave me my first Karma point. I've been karmically-challenged as of late so it means a whole lot

[claire522]

elsa, where do you get all this info?! thank you!

re Ahn, i do believe both him and Apolo are friends. i just don't know to what extent. i'm guessing Apolo admires Ahn for his consistency in the race. i mean, he even included Ahn on his dream team. who wouldn't? the guy's a bullet with his speed.

and thank you for that link. omg! i'm just SO excited to really see him skate! that was a good find!

[elsa]

claire522 said:

elsa, where do you get all this info?! thank you!

re Ahn, i do believe both him and Apolo are friends. i just don't know to what extent. i'm guessing Apolo admires Ahn for his consistency in the race. i mean, he even included Ahn on his dream team. who wouldn't? the guy's a bullet with his speed.

and thank you for that link. omg! i'm just SO excited to really see him skate! that was a good find!

I've got a patron saint of Apolobilia who sends me gobs and gobs of stuff -- and I read it (and try to remember it!) like a bat out of hell

Also, OZ is crammed full of fab stuff -- details and just all manner of data -- and I wish I didn't have so much to do in my stupid "real" life or I'd have already read everything that's there -- well maybe -- it's a daunting task, I can tell ya -- it goes back to 2002!

BTW, Apolo comes from dead last in a field of 8 or 10 skaters, and pulls to the very front in the last lap or two in the 3000M final at the end of that clip I linked to. IT'S UNBELIEVABLE! I believe this is the one where Allison Baver commented in the newspaper that she's seen Apolo pull stunts like that many times before -- it's a specialty I guess. It's just AMAZING. One of the skaters he passed said they were gonna be ready for him next time and not let him do that to them again. Yeah right...

[elsa]

Look at this!! And this was not a "junior" championship -- it was the overall one! (I know the veteran Apolo fans already know this - but for any newbies like me - isn't this just beyond AMAZING?):

Monday, March 10, 1997

For The Record

Seattle's Ohno, 14, Wins U.S. Short-Track Speedskating Title

Seattle Times News Services

Apolo Anton Ohno, 14, of Seattle, won the men's overall title in the U.S. short-track speedskating championships in Walpole, Mass., with a three-day total of 15.5 points. Andy Gabel, 32, of Northbrook, Ill., finished second. Ohno, is the youngest champion ever.

[claire522]

elsa said:

claire522 said:

elsa, where do you get all this info?! thank you!

re Ahn, i do believe both him and Apolo are friends. i just don't know to what extent. i'm guessing Apolo admires Ahn for his consistency in the race. i mean, he even included Ahn on his dream team. who wouldn't? the guy's a bullet with his speed.

and thank you for that link. omg! i'm just SO excited to really see him skate! that was a good find!

I've got a patron saint of Apolobilia who sends me gobs and gobs of stuff -- and I read it (and try to remember it!) like a bat out of hell

Also, OZ is crammed full of fab stuff -- details and just all manner of data -- and I wish I didn't have so much to do in my stupid "real" life or I'd have already read everything that's there -- well maybe -- it's a daunting task, I can tell ya -- it goes back to 2002!

BTW, Apolo comes from dead last in a field of 8 or 10 skaters, and pulls to the very front in the last lap or two in the 3000M final at the end of that clip I linked to. IT'S UNBELIEVABLE! I believe this is the one where Allison Baver commented in the newspaper that she's seen Apolo pull stunts like that many times before -- it's a specialty I guess. It's just AMAZING. One of the skaters he passed said they were gonna be ready for him next time and not let him do that to them again. Yeah right...

yeah i've been reading at OZ too. there are a lot of stuff there and its really great especially the live blogs! its like you're there watching it when you're reading it.

anyway, it is AMAZING how Apolo passed those skaters. its a strategy of his that i've seen before (only on videos). and i'm sure some if not all of his competitors are watching his style over and over again to learn more on how to beat him. the same goes with Apolo. i think his eyes are set on Ahn and Hamelin. lol.

[tdav]

That clip doesn't work all the way for me. It freezes up at about 8:31/8:32. Could someone help me if possible. I really wanted to see it.

[elsa]

tdavis said:

That clip doesn't work all the way for me. It freezes up at about 8:31/8:32. Could someone help me if possible. I really wanted to see it.

I'm so sorry! I'm the world's densest person when it comes to computers - I can't even figure out how to post pictures! Sometimes YouTube stuff gets stuck on me, like a scratched record (anybody else remember vinyl records?) and the same word will start repeating over and over again. Maybe your computer is overwhelmed by the amount of bytes or whatever it is? Anyhow, I wish I could help but I can't

Maybe if you try again tomorrow it'll work better? Hope so.

[Guest II]

elsa said:

And isn't "Kimo" the fan of Apolo's whose girlfriend bought a dinner with him - and then they sort of became real friends or something? What the heck is he doing posing with Ahn at a banquet that Apolo didn't even attend?? Any friend of Apolo's is a friend of Ahn? - is that how it goes?

Yes, Kimo's that guy.

Also, most of the skaters are a friendly bunch - even the Koreans. They're always happy to oblige and take a picture with fans, especially the ones that they see often at competitions.

[Lindsey]

Great video, elsa! But what competition was this? I thought the only thing Apolo's skated in this year was the World Championship in Milan...is this from that? But I was at school and so it's likely I missed something. I don't have sound at work (boo) so pardon my stupidity if it announces what race it is of!

[Guest]

The Nationals were held in Cleveland in February of this year. Apolo's dance partner Julianne was there in the audience, as they were trying to squeeze in practices for their first dwts show. Here's a newspaper article about it:

POWER COUPLE ICES ITS RIVALS Monday, February 26, 2007 Tim Warsinskey
Plain Dealer Reporter

They are an Olympic power couple, and this weekend in Cleveland Heights [Ohio] Apolo Ohno and Allison Baver proved it all over again. After taking most of last year off following the Winter Olympics, Ohno and Baver not only won men's and women's overall gold medals, they blew away the competition at the U.S. National Short Track Speedskating Championships at the Cleveland Heights Community Center.
The couple, who have been dating for more than a year, lead a U.S. delegation of five men and five women, including North Ridgeville's Tina Koenig, headed to the World Championships March 9-11 in Milan, Italy.

Ohno won all six men's events in the four-day championships, scoring the maximum 170 points to win his eighth U.S. crown. Runner-up Jordan Malone had 67 points. Ohno capped a dramatic final day with the kind of incredible move that has made him famous, passing four skaters on the inside final turn to win the last event, the 3,000 meters. It happened so fast, fans in the stands didn't believe their eyes. "Did he just pass four skaters?" one asked.

"I've seen him do a lot of crazy stuff, and that was one of those things," Baver said.
Ohno said the finish wasn't anything he planned. "I wasn't going to do anything, but I just decided to go at the last minute," Ohno said. Anthony Lobello, the skater directly in front of Ohno going into the last turn, said it was a familiar scenario. "I think some of us are starting to be aware of it, and it won't be long before some of us have our own moves to counter," Lobello said. Ohno finished two-tenths of a second ahead of Ryan Bedford and less than a half second separated the top four in the 27-lap event. "This never gets old, no way," Ohno said. "This feels good to be back racing again. It's been a while for me. The break is going to be huge for me in my push toward 2010. My mind is fresh, my body is fresh."

Drama also enveloped Ohno's 1,000-meter final when he was passed on a similar move by Malone, who hooked Ohno with an elbow. Ohno knew it was an illegal move and, perhaps more telling, knew he would get the call. He immediately raised an index finger, and moments later, Malone was disqualified, giving the victory to Ohno. "It was an iffy call," Malone said. "I think it's all fair in love and war and speedskating. But it's a big deal to even be in a situation where you're even racing Apolo." Despite saying it was a fair move, Malone apologized to Ohno. "I'm hoping this doesn't become a rivalry and instead becomes a healthy friendship. I said, 'I'm sorry about the iffy pass,' " Malone said.

Baver also won 1,000 and 3,000 Sunday and captured her third U.S. women's championship with a 74.5-point margin over Kimberly Derrick. Baver joined Ohno in taking a long break from skating last year, but she also had to deal with a bad ankle injury and the death of her grandmother, and was injured again in a bad fall last month. "I'm so happy," she said. "This season for me has been so tough, emotionally and physically every day. For me to come here and win almost every race, that was big for me." She said Ohno helped her get through the weekend. "We support each other a lot," she said. "He helps me a lot and helped coached me this weekend, with little things that I need to hear after a race."

The drama for the women centered around whether Koenig, 21, would make the top five and a berth on her second World Championship team. She was fourth overall entering the 3,000, but one of the racers she needed to beat, Alyson Dudek, was ahead of her when both crashed with four laps to go. Dudek was disqualified for causing the wipeout in a call both racers said could have gone either way. Koenig crashed again two laps later. She was able to rise again and finish last, picking up enough points to earn the fifth and final World team berth. Dudek finished sixth overall. "They could have called me for leaning in on her. It was very, very close," Koenig said.

MEN'S FINAL OVERALL CLASSIFICATION
Top five qualify for the U.S. World Championship team: 1. Apolo Ohno 170 points; 2. Jordan Malone 67; 3. Anthony Lobello 51; 4. Travis Jayner 43.5; 5. Ryan Bedford 31; 6. Alex Izykowski 30 (the guy at whose wedding reception Alison sat on Apolo's lap in Sept. 2006); 7. Jeff Simon 16.5; 8. JP Kepka 15.5; 9. Charles Ryan Leveille 3.5; 10. Joey Lindsey 2; 11. Barry Winslow 1; 12. (tie) Levi Kirkpatrick, Tom Anderson, Chris McLaughlin, Kyle Uyehara, Chris (Kyle) Carr 0.

WOMEN'S FINAL OVERALL CLASSIFICATION
Top five qualify for the U.S. World Championship team: 1. Allison Baver 150.5 points; 2. Kimberly Derrick 76.5; 3. Hyo Jung Kim 72; 4. Katherine Reutter 34.5; 5. Tina Koenig 34; 6.Alyson Dudek 29; 7. Cherise Wilkins 11.75; 9. Sarah Lang 11; 8. Sophia Milan 5.75; 10. Mary Grace 3.5; 11. Nicole Golembiewski 2; 12. (tie) Kelly Gunther, Tamara Frederick, Carly Wilson, Sadie Grace, Skylar McCormick 0.

[apoloslove]

If we talk about the Canucks... why hasn't Mathieu Turcotte been mentioned as a cutie? Come on!!! Look at that handsome face! He's so purrrty! None of the Canucks have it over Apolo, of course.



And since we're talking about Charles Hamelin, I thought I'd put up a pic of him as well... at Worlds in Milan with Apolo and Ahn

[Guest]

There's a bunch of good stuff about Nationals in Feb. '07 at this link. Julianne called Apolo "chill and laid back"; Jordan Malone said he sent emails to Apolo asking him not to retire so they could challenge each other; lots of cool pictures too, including Apolo with some kids:

www.ohnozone.net/archives/2007/02/25-week/#005117

[susie]

Guest said:

There's a bunch of good stuff about Nationals in Feb. '07 at this link. Julianne called Apolo "chill and laid back"; Jordan Malone said he sent emails to Apolo asking him not to retire so they could challenge each other; lots of cool pictures too, including Apolo with some kids:

www.ohnozone.net/archives/2007/02/25-week/#005117

There was a lot of buzz about Jordan amongst the fans at this past Nationals. It was a lot of fun watching him skate. To my admittedly inexperienced ST eyes he looked like the only skater (at least at that time) who might be able to challenge Apolo.

I love this photo -- Apolo has an "Oh $%&#! I'd better get moving!" moment while racing against Jordan, and the ice chips went flying. And yes, Apolo did prevail. (THIS time, he he.)



The 3000 was my favorite race. Apolo had me literally squirming in my seat, biding his time at the back of the pack as long as he did. And that whole weekend was my strange (wonderful) introduction to live short track, what with the whole DWTS thing going on as well.

Tigerlily, Apolo and Ahn look so young in those '02 Bormio photos! And Apoloslove, thanks for reposting the medals photo from Worlds -- I've been looking for that one.

ETA: Okay, I now so totally get Monette! LOL! And just where is that hottie, Olivier Jean? Inquiring minds want to know.

[Guest]

Was that your first race to go to, Susie? It sounds so wonderful to have been there -- just watching the film in a 3x3 box on my computer screen is MARVELOUS! And muchas gracias to whomever put that on the 'net at Vimeo! I know I should register and thank them but, well, I guess I'm too shy, lol. I hope and pray somebody does that for his races this year.

And Malone does seem to be challenging Apolo, you're right! Seems like he has a lot of steam left very late in the races, like Apolo, so when the other guys are running on empty, there's little Jordan flaring his jets or whatever (oft-times he's slamming into somebody or whatever but at least he's giving it every thing he's got - and that's alot!) What heart!

I've been meaning to look him up, but he looks shorter and thinner than Apolo (at least before Apolo's planned new makeover -- and the other guys just look big and slow, lol. Lobello looks huge standing by the others. Sounds like it's gonna be an exciting year. I just hope so hard that both Apolo and Jordan can stay healthy (and Jordan can stay out of the hospital.)