Apolo articles

[aaosmts19]

From KSL.com

Olympic skater in Utah for speed skating championship
December 22nd, 2007 @ 5:57pm
(KSL News) Olympic speed skater, Apolo Ohno, was in Utah today with the nation's best speed skaters.

Ohno was here to compete in the U.S. Speed Skating Championships at the Utah Olympic Oval in Kearns.

The competition qualifies skaters for the World Cup. "The number one thing is, we have everybody centrally located right now. We have some of the younger skaters training with some of the older guys; some of the veterans of the sport. And collaboratively, it makes the group stronger," says Ohno.

He also says he's just excited to be back in Utah where he won a gold and silver medal in the 2002 Winter Olympics.

[aaosmts19]

Posted a few moments ago on OZ:
December 22, 2007
Overall standings after day 2
What i have so far... this is tentative for now (there seems to be some uncertainty about the point values awarded in the cases of some of the dq'ed skaters).

Men's points
1. Apolo Ohno 1486
2. J.P, Kepka 1140
3. Jeff Simon 920
4. Jordan Malone 901
5. Simon Cho 700
6. Ryan Bedford 403
7. Ryan Cox 225
8. Anthony Lobello 225
9. Joey Lindsey 125
10. Kyle Carr 72
11. Alex Izykowski 69
12. Ansis Robs 51.5
13. Kyle Uyehara 51
14. J.R, Celski 45
15. Travis Jayner 42
16. Robert Lawrence 35


Women's (still pending complete 500m results)
1. Katherine Reutter 2,550
2. Kimberly Derrick 1,215
3. Allison Baver 1,185
4. Tina Koenig 435

Posted by noelle at 8:04 PM | Comments

[aaosmts19]

From the Salt Lake Tribune, 12/23 3am
U.S. Short-Track Speedskating Championships
Oh no! Apolo gets DQ'd
Reutter wins the women's event, while Olympic star Ohno's cross-tracking gaffe gives gold to Kepka
By Patrick Bahr
Special to The Tribune
Article Last Updated: 12/23/2007 03:53:28 AM MST


KEARNS - Day two of the U.S. Short-Track Speedskating Championships at the Olympic Oval was more of the same.
For the second straight day Katherine Reutter won the women's event, claiming gold in the 500 meters race with a time of 44.985 seconds.
Reutter outlasted Kimberly Derrick and last years' champion, Allison Baver, to cross the line first and said a key to her victory was an uncharacteristic good start.
"I am very surprised," Reutter said. "I came into this competition expecting to skate well and the way it is turning out I can't complain."
On the men's side, Apolo Anton Ohno finished first for the second day in a row. But what made Saturday different was he was disqualified for cross-tracking, giving the gold to second-place finisher J.P. Kepka, who crossed at 41.861.
"I thought I was skating well enough all day to win, and while it didn't happen like I thought it would, a win is a win," Kepka said.
Kepka led Ohno for most of the race. However, he was passed in one of the final turns. The judge's decision negated Ohno's first-place finish.
Kepka said he was aware of Ohno's presence during the race.
"I was thinking in both the semifinal and the final, 'He is behind me,' " Kepka said. "He is one of the best skaters in the world, so sometimes it is getting prepared to get passed."

While Ohno and Kepka are both stalwarts in the United States Speedskating program, the championships showed off an emergence of young skaters who will give the program depth heading towards the 2010 Olympic Games in Vancouver.
And according to Ohno, depth is what the U.S. needs the most.
One step the program has made towards building that depth is taking a page from the other successful speedskating countries and having its athletes all train together in Salt Lake City.
"Having everyone centrally located here allows us to build that depth," Ohno said. "That is the way the Canadians, Chinese, Japanese all do it, having your best guys train with the guys that are still up and coming."
Skaters like Jeff Simon, Jordan Malone, Simon Cho on the men's side, and Reutter and Lana Gehring on the women's side have impressed the older skaters.
Kepka, who won bronze in Turin in 2006, said having the young skaters around pushes the more experienced guys.
"Malone, Simon, those guys are coming up quick and they're hungry," Kepka said. "That is great for guys like Apolo and me because we don't want to lose our spots."
The short-track competition will continue today with the 1,000- and 3,000-meter races.

* Apolo Anton Ohno finished first in the men's 500 but was disqualified for cross-tracking, giving the gold to J.P. Kepka.
* Katherine Reutter won for the second straight day, capturing gold in the women's 500.

[aaosmts19]

Monday, December 24, 2007 - Page updated at 12:00 AM

Speedskating | Ohno returns in style, wins 2 finals in Utah
By Seattle Times news services

SCOTT SOMMERDORF / THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE


KEARNS, Utah — Apolo Ohno of Seattle led the final men's standings at the U.S. Senior Short-Track Speedskating Championships, a three-day event that ended Sunday at the Utah Olympic Oval.

Ohno took time off after the world championships in March and, according to The Salt Lake Tribune, returned to serious training about four months ago. In May, Ohno and dance partner Julianne Hough combined to win ABC's "Dancing With the Stars" competition.

Ohno, 25, won the 1,000-meter final and was second in the 3,000 Sunday.

The winner of five Olympic medals captured the 1,500 title Friday and finished first but was disqualified for cross-tracking in Saturday's 500 final.

Last week, Ohno said he was seeking to get a reading on his fitness.

"I basically took two full summers off," he told The Salt Lake Tribune. "Not a good idea, for any athlete. But the transition has been going well."

Ohno finished with 3,136 points in the standings, comfortably ahead of second-place Jeff Simon of Long Beach, Calif. J.R. Celski, who is from Federal Way, was 11th.

Ohno and Simon head the U.S. men's world team that qualified to compete at the world championships from March 7 to March 9 in South Korea. They are joined by Ryan Leveille of Atlanta, J.P. Kepka of St. Louis and Jordan Malone of Denton, Texas.

Katherine Reutter of Champaign, Ill., swept the women's 500, 1,000, 1,500 and 3,000.

Reutter leads a women's world team that also features Allison Baver of Sinking Springs, Pa.; Kimberly Derrick of Memphis, Tenn.; Lana Gehring of Glenview, Ill.; and Carly Wilson of Jefferson City, Mo.

"We are looking forward to seeing what this team does in the next two months," said Bob Crowley, U.S. Speedskating executive director.

Copyright © 2007 The Seattle Times Company

[aaosmts19]

Interesting article about Allison...who knew she had a heart condition? I thought her ailments had been muscular-skeletal related? She had an amzaing weekend, given her heart condition....


--------------------------

Desert Morning News, 12/24/07
Baver Doesn't Win, BUt Still Triumphs
KEARNS — That Allison Baver was fighting for a place on the podium at the U.S. short track speedskating championships should not have been a surprise.
Yet, it was.

Just a few short weeks ago Baver, a two-time Olympian, frequent World Cup medalist and a national champion, was wondering if her career as an athlete was over.

"My heart rate would go up to like 190 before I even warmed up," Baver said. "We didn't know what was going on. So like just three weeks ago, I wasn't even skating. I didn't know if I'd ever race again."

Her heart problems are still not completely resolved — Baver estimates herself at about 80 percent of optimum — and she will undoubtedly go through months of tests, conditioning and treatment to correct the problem she says can be aggravated by something as simple as the normal post-race massages speedskaters get.

Still, Sunday afternoon at the Utah Olympic Oval, Baver was tucked safely into second position behind rising star Katherine Reutter in the 3,000-meter

race. The 27-year-old veteran had a rough-and-tumble weekend at the Oval and left the arena without any individual wins.

That was a little disappointing for Baver but ultimately not enough to ruin what was, in many ways, a triumphant return to competition considering thecircumstances.

"A couple of weeks ago, I wasn't even thinking about skating," Baver said. "I didn't know what to expect out of myself. But I had to do it just for myself and to try and focus my recovery and get ready for the World Cup and then the Games."

Reutter, who won the 500 and 1,500 earlier in the weekend, capped a marvelous weekend of competition with two more wins. She held off the field over the final several rotations of the 27-lap 3,000 race for another win and also jumped to the front of the pack in the 1,000 final with three laps to go — holding off a hard-charging Baver in both races for gold.

In the 1,000, Baver was preparing to make a move on Reutter, but clipped skates and was forced to pull up to avoid crashing.

"Katherine had a really good weekend," Baver said. "It's nice to see some of the other girls like her skating so strong because that means we're deeper and more talented than we have been. It's nothing but good news for the country."

On the men's side, Apolo Anton Ohno rebounded from his disqualification in Saturday's 500 final with a dominating performance in the 1,000 on Sunday.

After taking a lead early in the race, Ohno closed the door on Jeff Simon who skated to a second-place finish after trying for several laps to find a passing opportunity that never materialized.

Charles Ryan Leveille won the men's 3,000 when he tired of waiting for the pack to take off. He bolted to the lead with nine laps to go, and the rest of the field failed to match his effort.

"When I went to the lead, they just didn't move up," Leveille said. "I thought Apolo would make a move sometime, but it never really came."

The win was the first ever for Leveille against Ohno and helps solidify his place on the national roster as it heads toward the world championships in

March.

"That's been my goal for a long, long time," he said. "Apolo is the best in the world. So I've been wanting to beat him for a long time. It was nice to do that today."

The Oval will again host a national championship meet next week when the long-track skaters return to Utah after a couple of months in Europe. The long track nationals are scheduled for Thursday through Dec. 30.

[aaosmts19]

This article gives us a peek at Jeff SImon's background and his take on his current path. Loved Apolo's smug little reply when asked how he fended Jeff off...."Oh, I can't tell you that...."


U.S. Short-Track Championships Move pays dividends
Decision to leave home at 14 pays off for Vegas native Simon, who makes U.S. World team
By John Renshaw
Special to The Tribune
Article Last Updated: 12/24/2007 02:27:26 AM MST


(Scott Sommerdorf / The Salt Lake Tribune)«12»KEARNS -

Four years ago, Jeff Simon made a life-changing decision when the Las Vegas native packed up his belongings and headed west to Long Beach, Calif.

He wanted to jump-start a new career, from in-line skating to speedskating, but the transition proved difficult as he moved away from his parents at just 14 years old.

"I was pretty good at [in-line skating], but realized there was no future in it," he said. "I always knew I wanted to be part of the Olympic experience, so I decided to take that passion and begin training with some of the speedskating coaches in the country.

"At first, it was really hard to move away from home. . . . Being a young kid, it was a huge gamble. But fortunately it's paid off and I have absolutely no regrets."

Definitely not after the conclusion of the three-day U.S. Short-Track Championships at the Utah Olympic Oval on Sunday. In a contest of the fast and the furious on ice, Simon fended off proven Olympians to finish second overall with 1,640 total points, qualifying him for the U.S. World Cup Team and quickly earning the respect of his now U.S. teammates.

"Jeff's an up-and-comer with a lot of potential who will bring a lot to the team," two-time Olympian Apolo Anton Ohno said. "We've had some guys who were expected to qualify have a couple of bad races, which opened the doors to some of the younger guys."

In the 1,000 meters, Ohno (1:28.206) and Simon (1:28.306) finished 1-2, respectively, in a tight finish with the keen veteran displaying some wisdom.

Said Simon: "I was right there with [Ohno] . . . but wasn't feeling confident enough to try and pass him. I didn't want to risk getting disqualified for an illegal pass, but overall, I'm satisfied with my finish this weekend.

"But experience played a huge factor and that's one reason why I'm very eager to be a part of this team. It's an opportunity to learn from the best. Being around those guys will help me in the long run."

And how did the former "Dancing With the Stars" champion fend off the 18-year old? "I've seen everything you can see out there and have been in every type of situation. But how did I hold [Simon] off? . . . Oh, I can't tell you that."

On the women's side, Katherine Reutter continued her stellar performance - sweeping both the 1,000 and 3,000 meters to finish first overall at 4,590 total points. Showcasing brilliant passing moves during the late stages to overcome any deficit, Reutter finished first in every single distance she skated, earning her the U.S. National Championship.
"It's just developing an idea and feel out there of what I need to do. It's been a real progression this year since I decided to stop competing in juniors and turn my focus against the seniors," the 19-year old Reutter said.
Joining Reutter on the U.S. World Cup team are Allison Baver, a 2002 and 2006 Olympian and early favorite heading into the weekend, and a first-time Olympic team honoree, 18-year old Kimberly Derrick.

Apolo Anton Ohno secured his U.S. World Cup slot by finishing first overall with 3,136 total points, taking gold in the 1,000 meters and 1,500 meters.
* Up-and-comer Jeff Simon earned his first U.S. World Cup roster spot after an impressive second-place finish in the 1,000.
* Illinois native Katherine Reutter continued her success by winning every event she raced, compiling 4,590 total points Ð 2,145 more than her nearest competitor, Allison Baver.







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[number1fan]

aaosmts19...thanks for bringing these 3 articles over from oz!
i am shocked to hear of allison's newfound heart condition...she's gone through so much this past year and now this...yet she still took 2nd in the overall! what a trooper!

[Doonick]

Apolo is featured on the front cover of the Jan/Feb edition of Salt Lake Magazine. The extract below is available on their website. Unfortunately, if you would like to read the whole article, you'll need to purchase the magazine itself. As I am based in the UK and it's not for sale here, there is no way of me knowing who the other four speedskaters are, although as Apolo is on the cover (blue skinsuit, matching bandana and shorter hair), I'll safely assume he is one of them. I just thought I would mention it as some of you have just returned from SLC (I've been lurking for a while but never posted until now).
If anyone manages to get hold of a copy, it would be great to know what the article says about Apolo as well as the up-and-comers who are training alongside him.

Eat, sleep, skate
In the world of speed skating, life is lived on the oval. For these six Utah residents, Utah does not exist.

Friday, December 21, 2007
by Dan Nailen, Jeremy Pugh and Erin Bean


For the athletes who train there, the Utah Olympic Oval in Kearns might as well be on Mars.

Inside its bright, white confines, there is another world, another temporal realm where time and space revolve around one thing: earning Olympic glory. From the moment he or she wakes, an Olympic aspirant exists only for the ice and speed. Our world, Utah—the mountains, the cities—simply doesn’t exist.

Their world emerges every four years when, like some cosmic event, they blaze onto the Olympic stage. We learn their names and cheer them on, share in their success and failure. But the great quantum secret is that we don’t have to wait for the comet to return to Vancouver in 2010. The nexus of the speed skating universe exists in Kearns every day. Its doors are open to visitors, and you can watch gold medalists like Apolo Anton Ohno train and compete alongside the young skaters we profile here, working toward the gold in 2010.

Lana Gehring, 17, Short Track

While the 17-year-old Illinois native shares the same intense, six- to eight-hour daily training regimen of her teammates, Lana Gehring has a little extra on her plate—finishing high school.

Gehring’s been competing for most of her life. She landed spots on the national short and long track junior teams when she was just 14, a few years after making the switch from figure skating to speed skating. Her success led to the solo move West in June 2007 as a 16-year-old in the middle of high school. Gehring knew it was a good move, but her parents needed some convincing.

“They were very worried about me, because they didn’t know if I should move out here because of school,” Gehring says. “They really wanted me to graduate first, before I focused on more skating. But they realized this is really what I want to do. And they’ve very proud of me, that I got to this level at this age.”

Even so, moving to a home a block from the Utah Olympic Oval, away from her parents, didn’t get Gehring off the hook for finishing high school; she spends between two and three hours at Kearns High School in the middle of her training days, and is on track to graduate in 2009.

In the meantime, she’s laser-focused on trying to make the Olympic team for the 2010 games in Vancouver. And that means Gehring doesn’t get a chance to explore her new home much.

“I do wish we could get out and just go for a hike or something, or go out and see how the town really is,” Gehring says. “We do get a day off on the weekends, but even then, it’s hard to get out. If we get free time, we’re usually so tired we don’t want to do anything.” —Dan Nailen


Jeff Simon, 18, Short Track

Jeff Simon’s move to Utah in June 2007 wasn’t too traumatic for the then-17-year-old; he first left his parents and his native Las Vegas behind in 2003 to make the leap from inline-skating national medalist to aspiring speed skating Olympian.

That initial move to the closest short-track speed skating training facility—in Long Beach, Calif.—was the necessary first step in Simon’s goal of winning Olympic gold, and it forced the headstrong adolescent to mature in a hurry.

“At first, not having my parents around was hard,” Simon says. “I had to grow up fast. I was an irresponsible 14-year-old kid.”

Now Simon, like his teammates, is an intensely focused teenager whose every move in life is dictated by the pursuit of ever-faster laps around the ice. He lives with teammate Jordan Malone, another former inline skater, in a house not far from the Utah Olympic Oval where they train, and they get out on the town “very little.”

“We’re training all the time to maintain our health, to recover and to better ourselves,” Simon says, admitting he gets the urge to do something “besides your everyday life,” like rock-climbing or skiing. But he eschews those activities because of their potential for knocking him off-track from his skating goals. “Sometimes we’ll all go out, maybe for a movie on a Saturday night.” —Dan Nailen

www.saltlakemagazine.com/index.php?src=

[lisam]

Thanks doonick for the article, interesting info about Lana and Jeff. How awesome for them to make the World Cup team at such a young age!

[mtnme]

From Tina at Apolianne -(originally from DI)

Also, there is a nice cover photo of Apolo for this article (post 724) on the news and info part 2 of Apolianne. I'm using my Dads Mac, and I can't figure out how to get the URL info to post it here. Someone mind zipping over there to grab it?
______________________________________________________________________

(from DI)
New Cover for Salt Lake Magazine Jan/Feb issue:

Pick up a copy of the January/February issue of Salt Lake magazine, featuring Apolo Ohno and speed skating's rising stars, on newsstands now.

Click here for a list of local retailers.

Click here to subscribe.

www.saltlakemagazine.com/index.php?src=news&prid=1075&category

Apolo's interview on that magazine. (thanks to gojulianne at DI!)

With his big smile and energy on and off the ice, Apolo Anton Ohno won the world's heart at the 2002 Olympics, continued to shine at Torino in 2006 and reached a new audience of fans with his first-place turn on Dancing with the Stars the same year. Now 25, the five-time Olympic medalist calls the Salt Lake valley home and trains here full time. We sat down with Ohno to discuss the life of the world's most famous short-track speed skater.

So what's it like to win an Olympic gold medal?
It's hard to explain, because you have such a rush of emotions, there are so many things going through your mind. The first time I reached the podium in 2002, I didn't know what to expect- I was 19 years old. In Torino, I knew what to expect. I was deeply rooted in believing I could perform well and make it to the podium, and on the final day, on the final race - my last chance - I was able to win gold. I could have walked away from the sport that day and been totally satisfied with my career.

How do you handle competing against your teammates in the Olympics?
It's separate. We leave everything on the ice. It has to be that way. That's how I do it. Some people don't. It's the pinnacle of all competition, and people train their entire lives for one opportunity, 45 seconds to shine. But I leave it on the ice.

How does it feel to crash during a race?
It doesn't feel good. Imagine riding at 35 or 40 miles per hour into a wall. That's how it is.

Did Dancing with the Stars help your skating?
No, not at all, I'm not going to lie.

Did speed skating make you a better dancer?
I think it did, because I train so hard every day, and because I'm able to focus all my energy in on something.

What did you think about ballroom dance?
I was surprised at how hard it was. Not physically difficult, but how demanding it was. I would train for a few hours in the morning beforehand, then we would practice dancing from 10 a.m. to midnight.

Now that you're done with the samba circuit, what do you do when you're not training?
I like to have fun and just hang out with my friends. Just being an athlete, I don't go out much; I don't drink. I like food. I'm going to go hit up some of those downtown taco stands on my day off.

[number1fan]

here's the magazine cover you requested mtnme!

[mtnme]

Number1, Thanks my dear. You're the best!

[number1fan]

mtnme said:

Number1, Thanks my dear. You're the best!

no problemo

[susie]

Great cover and article, thanks number1fan and mtnme!

[aaosmts19]

Based on the news about Apolo's skates being in the Smithsonian, I did little research and found this:
www.apa.si.edu/APA_Events.htm

Olympic Gold Medalist Apolo Anton Ohno’s Skates Arrive at “Treasures of American History”


Photo by Noriko Sanefuji


Currently on display until January 26, 2008
Exhibit Hall: "Treasures of American History"
National Air and Space Museum
Independence Ave at 4th Street, SW
Metro: Smithsonian or L'Enfant Plaza

Got speed? Apolo Anton Ohno undoubtedly does! And now the latest Asian Pacific American acquisition makes a speedy addition to the "Treasures of American History," currently on display.

The latest “Treasures” showcase houses the champion skates worn by Apolo Anton Ohno, a short-track speed skater and winner of five Olympic medals. Ohno wore these skates at the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah where he won Gold in the 1500- meter and Silver in 1000-meter competitions. At the 2006 Olympics held in Italy, Ohno again won Gold in the 500-meter and Bronze in both the 1000- meter and 5000-meter relays.

Ohno is currently training for the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. In between, he cut up the floor in 2007, winning top honors on season 4 of ABC’s Dancing with the Stars competition.

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This site represents the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Program and 'increases the understanding of the Asian Pacific American experience in Smithsoian exhibitions, programs and research".

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I found another page on this site:
www.apa.si.edu/APA_research&collections.htm
Olympic Gold Medalist Apolo Anton Ohno’s Winning Skates

Got speed? Apolo Anton Ohno undoubtedly does! And now the Smithsonian APA Program has just aquired the very skates worn by legendary Apolo Anton Ohno, a short-track speed skater and winner of five Olympic medals. Ohno wore these very skates at the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah where he won Gold in the 1500- meter and Silver in 1000-meter competitions. At the 2006 Olympics held in Italy, Ohno again won Gold in the 500-meter and Bronze in both the 1000- meter and 5000-meter relays. Ohno is currently training for the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. In between, he cut up the floor in 2007, winning top honors on season 4 of ABC’s Dancing with the Stars competition.

Gift of Apolo Anton Ohno.

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These 2 news bits each have a photo associated with them. The first article has a photo of the actual exhibit, with a pic of Apolo + the actual skates. The 2nd site has a different pic of just the skates. Perhaps one of our computer-saavy readers can download the pix?

Enjoy.....