Apolo's Competition

[epiphaniii]

Regarding J.R. Celski, who was mentioned earlier and also grew up in Federal Way like Apolo, here's a fantastic article about him from The Seattle Times in December '05. It mentions that his older brother and Apolo are friends. J.R. and his mother are interviewed and give a lot of insight into what it takes for a young athlete to excel in this sport and how important the entire family's support can be.

J.R. was too young by just a few days to have a chance to make the US short track team for the '06 Olympics. I hope he makes the team for 2010!

There are two pics with the article, one of which also features Apolo. Here's another photo of them together below, which is not in the article.

seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/sports/2002693076_olympics20.html

[Lori]

I really, really like that article - thanks, Epiphaniii. I've been hearing snippets about J.R. Celski in the last few weeks and have been wanting to know more. That's the most background information I've seen yet!

I LOVE Ron Judd's pieces. He's a very talented and caring writer.

[callie]

Thanks Guest2 and epiphaniii for those wonderful articles. I had not seen either of them before. It's great to know more about those other guys on the ice!

[epiphaniii]

You're welcome Lori and Callie. I am really looking forward to seeing what J.R. will do this season.

Here are two excellent videos from Jordan Malone on YouTube, for anyone interested in him who may not have seen them. I just love him! They are designed for potential sponsors but are wonderful viewing for fans as well. They detail his career from inline skating to ice.

The first one is about three minutes long and is meant to be an intro to the final piece. The second is almost eight minutes long. I like things like this because you also get some insight into his musical tastes and who he feels has contributed to his success (by seeing who he thanks at the end of the video), etc. I especially like the credit to "My one" and the great quote from his Grandma.

He also thanks Noelle from OZ and Jerry Search (great photographer), both of whom I am also very thankful to for their coverage of short track.

youtube.com/watch?v=0MGIYB-X57I&mode=related&search=

youtube.com/watch?v=vftEUjhcDUs

Also, here's a great, extremely informative and inspiring article that was published in Dec. '05 about Jordan and his mother.

www.usolympicteam.com/11478_42328.htm

[Guest2]

There's a new newsletter (July 2007) put out by the US Speedskating federation, and on page 26 they have the rules for short track and page 55 has all the US and international competition dates and locations. It's interesting!

Eric Heiden is mentioned (he's in SLC) and Bonnie Blair was at the meeting they're talking about at the beginning of the newsletter. There's a comment in there somewhere that they're considering hiring a sports psychologist and a sports nutritionist and I couldn't help but think about Apolo's friends Dave Creswell and John Schaeffer (sp?). Also there's a picture of the new Korean short track head coach Jae Su Chun and one of the new Canadian assistant coaches (Thibault I think or maybe Daignault.) They were at the big meeting. Anyway here's the link:

www.usspeedskating.org/US%20Speedskating%20-%20Newsletter%20July%2007.pdf

[tynormem]

I just don't want to see this thread die. Have we covered everyone? Is there anything more we can discuss? I know I haven't posted any info, but I was taking in all the info that was shared.....

[Snug]

I have a question.

Are the meets ever televised? I went to the "official" website, and it lists the complete 2007-2008 schedule, but doesn't mention anything about television coverage.

You would think with the bazillion ESPN channels, which sometimes resort to covering lame-o "sports" like bowling, that there should be SOME coverage of ST, but I'll be darned if I can find the answer to my question anywhere.

[epiphaniii]

Thank you, Guest2! There's a lot of interesting info in the newsletter.

I am continually disappointed that there seems to be no real effort to increase the general public's awareness of speedskating or to get races broadcast on television. I keep expecting to see some mention of that, but no -- unless I've just missed it. Attention is paid to developing young skaters, which is excellent. But I also want very badly for them to have a larger fan base here in the US. I'd like to think things are happening behind the scenes that I'm not privy to.

However, maybe the skaters themselves in general don't care much about that and therefore I shouldn't let it bother me? One of the things I admire about them is that they and their families invest so much time and money out of true love for the sport, in spite of the lack of public recognition they receive at home. Still, I would like to see them celebrated as much as their competitors are in other countries.

On the long track side, it's great that Shani and Chad get as much recognition as they do in the Netherlands and elsewhere. I am thankful to be able to see some of that online via Dutch television programs and print media. (I would say that my favorite, Shani, seems to be the more well-liked/respected of the two overseas. I'm glad they agree with me. heh.)

************

Tynormem, we definitely haven't covered everyone! I only posted about two my faves, but I'll have to think of more to discuss and perhaps others will, too.

[elsa]

I'm basically a newbie and I think it's pretty complicated -- but it's not just short track that seems to be having problems. Last year was the first year that figure skating championships were not broadcast on any of the major networks like NBC or ABC (I can't remember where I read that - but wherever it was, it said that, in general, figure skating (in the past, the premier winter Olympic event) has been losing audience interest, bigtime. Ever since the battle of the "Brians" whatever that means. (uh, they lost my interest a looonnngggg time ago)

And the Olympics since Sydney at least have had a really hard time. Salt Lake City, being the same time zone -- and of course, having APOLO, did well -- but Torino, being hours different from the US and what with Internet coverage -- well, the Torino ratings were not that good.

I don't know if the major sports are also losing audience (football, basketball, baseball) but I'm pretty sure at least baseball is.

Wonder if it's the huge number of choices that people have? In any case, short track speedskating is a "new" sport, an unusual sport, and probably gets lumped together in people's minds with regular speedskating which can be, imo, a bit boring. And as Apolo has pointed out, there hasn't been a crossover type star other than him, and there's only so much one man can do, singlehandedly, especially with the demands on him to practice and work-out 8-10 hours a day or whatever, plus deal with the politics and the multiple competitions and all the travel involved in the meets and in his personal appearances...

It's hard to imagine short track doing great while even figure skating is struggling to hold on to audience share. Well, it isn't hard to imagine for me after "meeting" Apolo but I know before dwts, I wouldn't have tuned in To any sports, really - there's too much other great stuff on my 500 channels already that I'd dearly love to watch but I don't have time enough for...

And Apolo, I'll make time for, but I think I sorta get it overall. In Korea's case, short track is like their national sport, their chance to make it big internationally, because their non-superpower country is doing so incredibly well in short track -- it's also a pretty big deal in China as their teams dominate, well the Chinese women's short track team anyway (while soccer isn't even a biggie there I don't think). And the Netherlands has always been speedskating mad (though I think they're into the regular kind more than short-track.)

Hey, how come we don't get Canadian tv coverage? They're kind of like Korea when it comes to short track, so you'd think they'd show it, and we could get it from them ?? Some big-hearted Canadian could make dvd recordings of the televised short track races and kindly sell copies to us??? Speaking of Canada, I would love to hear any details about their gorgeous guys -- Flou, Monette, the new wunderkind Charles Hamelin who was second in the World Championships in Milan six months ago, the adorable 5'4" Turcotte (did he retire?) The one with the wild hair -- Jean or Olivier -- something like that. Where do you get info on these guys??

[raingirl]

admin said:

elsa said:

Yuki said that about Lee (that he's the biggest threat to Apolo in terms of his aggression/wildness) in a live interview I found somewhere -- actually, one that olympia found FOR me. She's amazing! I've seen and read so much it all runs together sometimes - even though I take notes, it still happens.

I think Ahn and Lee may have team-skated AND had the rivalry between themselves. I think what USED to happen is that one (say, Lee) was designated as the guy to worry only about Apolo, and Ahn, let's say, was designated as the one to win. [Apolo explained how this worked in an interview with NBC, I believe, that aired before or during the Torino Olympics.]

I think Lee (and his coach/family/whatever) got mad about it and refused to play along. At least play along to the extent they wanted him to -- meaning, give up any chance at winning himself to keep Apolo from medaling. [and if it's true that Lee used to be the one designated solely to take care of Apolo, it would explain Yuki's feelings towards him.]

That doesn't mean there's no team-skating but it isn't going quite as smoothly as some would want (in the Korean executive quarters.) Their two "hot shots" both want to win in ADDITION to keeping Apolo (and therefore, the pretty-much-hated United States) off the podium.

*Maybe* Ahn means it when he says he wants to be Apolo's friend -- I hope so, but he himself implies that he used to believe that Apolo was "bad" or "the enemy" or whatever, and it's a HUUUUUGE deal for defensive little Korea who's mostly furious that American troops are still on their soil to beat the world's only superpower, esp. after the male Korean ST speedskaters were shut out of the medals in SLC (because of Apolo, as they believe.) As Apolo has said, if only he could be an underdog again that the rest of the speedskating world wasn't plotting against, how sweet it would be.

Sorry to go on and on -- can you tell I was a history major who still can't stop researching, documenting, and hypothesizing?

Elsa, you are absolutely amazing at finding all this information. As a jealous Apolo fanatic, I believe it was in fact the Koreans who cost Apolo his gold in Turino... remember that quick pass Lee made right at the end of the 1000m that cut him off? Unfortunately, the pass was totally legal, but anyways... *sigh*

Don't stop your research, Elsa! It's invaluable!

Totally agree Lindsey. That is what I have always thought too.

[MT]

Whoa, Elsa ....

I'm not even sure where to start, reference your Jul 6 rampage on the Koreans so I'll start with a more positve note: The lovely Canooks. If you want more info on them, maybe it is time to resurrect the Canook thread. That will be my pleasure, I assure you. But, back to the Koreans first....

1. Despite reports to the contrary, ST is not that big a sport in Korea. Most have barely heard of it except in passing every four year (like here.) They do rake home the winter Olympic gold but even that is a fairly recent phenom. Big sports in Korea are football (a.k.a soccer), baseball, Taekwondo and even volleyball and basketball are much more well known than ST.

2. The Koreans skated extremely cleanly in Torino - ask anyone who knows INCLUDING Apolo. Ahn WAS NOT designated to win while LEE was designated to take care of Apolo. In fact Lee and Ahn are intense rivals and Lee was clearly hungering for gold himself. Not to mention, Apolo isn't even considered the major threat in all the races. The Koreans have been skating quite cleanly since Torino too. In the Asian cups (which are a bigger deal than even the Olympics due to the intense bitter rivalries with Japan and China) it was CHINA that was deemed to be the biggest "cheater." Although Meng Wang apparently felt the rest of the team was not perforning their part sufficiently to see her across the line to gold. This she blamed on their new coach (that would be coach LI who coached the US team thru the Olympics in Torino and you may recall Apolo throwing his arms around her after winning the 500m). My guess is while coaching in the US, she learned what a big deal Americans, Canadians and Europeans think team skating is and consider it utterly dishonorable and will not tolerate it. She may be trying to get that thru to her prima donna which may cost her her job as M. Weng, without a doubt the best female skater in the world, has threatened to quit if her teamates aren't ordered to "support her" more. (She was later ordered to publicly apologize to her coach, which is encouraging.)

As for "Lee getting mad about it" ("it" being told to sacrifice himself so Ahn could win.) I think you are confused here. After the Olympics, there was a terrific meltdown in the Korean ST world. There are two elite level skating teams associated with two different universities. There is a lot of prestige associated to "owning" a medaling skater of course and Lee and Ahn skate on different teams. During the Olympics, the teams were mixed up and one coach assigned to the women, the other to the men. (Ahn's coach went to the women). After the 2006 World meets in Montreal and Minn, Ahn's father went ballistic and physically attacked one of the coaches accusing him of trying to set up Ahn to lose and destroy his skating career. (Their are vid clips of the airport incident with poor Ahn looking utterly lost and mortified). The gist of it was the team's other skaters were supposed to block Ahn so Lee could win (and Lee's coach get the credit for training a winner). They tried (it is clear in the race tapes) and had mixed success. Ahn was just too good. So, yes, the Koreans have team-skated in recent history but against THEIR OWN team for reasons of internal power struggles with their coaches. It just about brought Korean ST to it's knees. Ahn posted he was so heart-broken he was ready to quit. Apparently, much restructuring has occurred since then. (All of this is in the OZ archives with direct input from Korean fans and STers and links to Korean news.)

3. Lee was considered the biggest threat to Apolo (wrongly, or at least prematurely) because he is utterly brilliant with breathtaking speed. He is/was also young and wildly reckless (watch the clips from the Minneapolis 2006 relay and you'll see what I mean.) Once he gets himself under control and a little more seasoned, he may eclipse even Ahn who is the undisputed master of the ice, at least for 2006. Yuki was also, no doubt concerned Lee and his aggressive skating would make a race much more dangerous. Knock wood that never proves the case.

4. The US is not "pretty much hated" by the Koreans either in ST or in general. First of all, the Canadians are considered much, much more of a threat. There was considerable animosity towards Apolo personally after SL but that was mostly crazed fans. The skaters themselves didn't take it that personally ("that's short-track.") You'll note they got over that and when Apolo goes to a meet in Korea he has reported to be pleased with his warm reception and surprised at how many fans he has there. Shani is VERY warmly received in Korea and considers Seoul one of his favorite cities.

5. If Ahn wants to be Apolo's friend, I would say he means it. He is reported to be extremely sweet and his website run by his girlfriend, a skier, and decorated in lots of pink and "hello kitty" type stuff sure supports that image. Watch all the clips from the Olympics and it was truly an inspiration to see that Ahn is usually the first to congratulate Apolo and vice versa. After the relay, there is one picture, inparticular ,of the US team holding the flag up and Apolo is laugihng and joking with Ahn next to him. I admit, you might not notice this at first because Apolo has his skinsuit unzipped to his navel. Very distracting.

6. "defensive little Korea who's mostly furious that American troops are still on their soil"?
Where in the world did you get that from??? I have trouble even picturing the proud and accomplished Koreans thinking of themselfes or acting like "defensive little Korea." That is as ludicrous as "defensive little Japan." Worse, actually. The Koreans are much feistier and aggressive than the Japanese. In fact, for the first several decades of our military presence in S. Korea, we were there just as much to prevent them from invading the North and freeing their brothers from oppressive communist rule. Since then, they appear less likely to start another regional war.

Yes, some Koreans are not thrilled with the US presence in Korea. If you did a survey you would find this is largely a small but highly vocal and very young and politically naive constituency. Protest and political activism during the college years appears to be a historically dependable right of passage (and excuse to party). The young are expected to get it out of their system and settle down to be productive members of society eventually. Older generations, even those not in love with the more obnoxious aspects of American culture and drunk and disrespectful GI's strutting about are still very thankful for our continued presence, the deterrence effect on the madman just a stone's throw to the north, and the $ we spend there. (They are much less thriled when we ham-handedly try to meddle in politics and tell them what to do.)

Ahn doesn't want to beat Apolo because he is a citizen of "the world's only superpower" (geez, that sure sounds obnoxious, no wonder they hate us, huh?). Ahn wants to WIN! He wouldn't care if the other skater was from Haiti. He definitely wants to beat the Canadians who are too busy chasing beaver, drinking beer, and designing bad skin-suits to be a super-power. In fact, Ahn, Lee, etc are probably utterly thrilled that American troops are in Korea because if they weren't, Ahn etc, would never be able to get the deferrment from mandatory military service that is the requirement for almost every other male in Korea who isn't an elite level athlete.

6. I recall the interview you refer to where Apolo bemoaned how the entire skating world was against him. I thought it sounded remarkably self-pitying which is so unlike him. I figure he was having a bad day. He certainly hasn't whined like that since. Of course, if he feels like he is in too much of a minority on the ice, the solution is to get Jordan Malone out there too. Yeah, that would be awesome. Apolo, Jordan, Ahn, Lee, Flou and Hamelin. d**n, that would be a race to see.

Sorry to go on so long but I don't like to see ugly American attitude perpetuated particularly based on false info. The Koreans aren't angels but neither is Apolo. What they are, as is Apolo, are magnificent skaters and I like to see credit given where it is due.

I'll get on that Canadian hotties of the ice info, have no fear. Truly a labor of love (well, booty lust, at least)>

[aka Breeze]

This is a great post, MT. Very knowledgeable, convincing and reasonable. Previously, I was very suspicious of the Korean skaters, but now I think I have a better idea of where they're coming from and I view them in a more favorable light. Still want Apolo to beat the living crap out of them though.

[number1fan]

mt...here's a couple of pics you were mentioning in your great post

that's ahn next to apolo.

[elsa]

Well, I'm absolutely THRILLED that everything is now going so well with Apolo and the Koreans !!! No joke! I just based what I said on my impressions which I got from Apolo himself and from Yuki! Also from other commentary in interviews/articles/and such. I certainly didn't make it up! (but if I exaggerated or embellished, I humbly apologize.) Before starting "researching" Apolo I had no idea of any of these things, vis a vis Korea/America, despite having a Master's in History (just not my area of expertise -- so I didn't bring any preconceived bias to it, imo)

But back to the main point, I am 100% incredibly massively unambiguously BEYOND THRILLED AND DELIGHTED that there's no more team skating among the Koreans and that Apolo no longer has to worry his to-die-for gloriously beautiful head about it. HALLELUJAH! I believed it was the biggest problem Apolo had! Well that and staying healthy/uninjured.

I can rest easy now.

Oh and Yuki may hate Ahn - or maybe he did in the past - but I think he's a doll. I'm mad that he grabbed Apolo and pulled him down in '02 at the Olympics, depriving him of his deserved gold medal - but he was only 16, and whether he meant it or not, well, it's history. I'll be following Ahn too because he's such a cutie (love the picture of him and that baby.)

And I *do* look forward to learning about the Canadians. Several of them are HOT!

[MT]

Here's to Canadian Bacon



Isn't that better than skinny arms and sunken chest? Apolo, just say no to 145lbs!