ISU World Championshipts - March 7-9, 2008

[aaosmts19]

Let's kick off the Mother of All races (in a non-Olympic year, of course!).

From webpoint.usspeedskating.org/files/Event_PDFs/638_Event_Info.pdf

The International Skating Union, the Korea Skating Union (K.S.U.) and the Organizing Committee have the
honor of hosting the ISU World Short Track Speed Skating Championships 2008. The Championships will be
held in "Gangneung International Ice rink", 630-4 Gyo-Dong Gangneung City, Gangwon Province, Korea,
from March 7th until March 9th, 2008. The training sessions will be held from March 4th, 2008.
The ISU World Short Track Speed Skating Championships 2008 will be held in accordance with the 2006 ISU
Regulations and relevant ISU Communications.


CONDITIONS OF CONTEST
The ISU World Short Track Speed Skating Championships 2008 will be held over the distances 500, 1000,
1500 and 3000 meters for Ladies and Men and a relay race over 3000 meters for Ladies and 5000 meters for
Men. The program will be according to Rule 281, paragraph 1 g) of the 2006 ISU Regulations.

PROGRAM (all times to be determined unless otherwise indicated)
Thursday, March 6th, 2008
OFFICIAL TRAINING
19.00 OFFICIAL DRAW

Friday, March 7th, 2008
12:00 OPENING CEREMONY
13:00 1500 m Ladies and Men session
16:50 Relay Ladies 3000 m semi-final

Saturday, March 8th, 2008
12.30 500 m Ladies and Men session
16:50 Relay Men 5000 m semi-final

Sunday, March 9th, 2008
10:20 1000 m Ladies and Men session
15:30 3000 m Super Final Ladies and Men session
16:10 Relay Ladies and Men Final
AWARDS CEREMONY

TRACK CONDITIONS AND RINK DIMENSIONS
The “Gangneung International ice rink” has an artificial refrigerated indoor ice surface of 61m x 30m.
Protective Padding will cover the boards in accordance with Rule 280, paragraph 5 and ISU Communication
No. 1019. The standard track of 111.12 meters to the lap, with a measured curve of 8.50 meters, will be used.
Besides this track there will be four (4) other tracks each 1 meter apart from the standard track to maintain
good ice conditions. For all tracks, one finish line will be used and the starting lines for 500 and 1500 meters
races will be moved according to the track being used. Seven (7) marking blocks will be used in the curves.

PARTICIPATION
Participation is open to all ISU Members who may enter skaters for individual distances in accordance with
Rule 281, paragraph 2 a). Entries for single distance or only parts of the Championships are not permitted.
The following Members may enter 3 competitors (ISU Communication No. 1469).
Ladies Men
Canada 3 competitors Canada 3 competitors
China 3 competitors Italy 3 competitors
Italy 3 competitors Republic of Korea 3 competitors
Republic of Korea 3 competitors USA 3 competitors
(ii) Relay:
The entry quota for the Relay competitions at the ISU World Short Track Speed Skating Championships 2008
will be determined by the World Cup ranking in accordance with Rule 281, paragraph 2 c). Special attention
must be paid to Rule 286, paragraph 3, i.e. participation must be clear before the start of the last World Cup
Competition of the season.

DRAWING AND SEEDING PROCEDURE
The drawing and seeding procedure will be carried out in accordance with Rule 281 and Rule 296.

POINTS AND CLASSIFICATION
The points 34, 21, 13, 8, 5, 3, 2, 1 are awarded in descending order commencing with first place (according
with Rule 295 paragraphs 5, 6, 7 and 8).

ENTRIES
Preliminary entries (form enclosed) must be returned prior to February 7th, 2008.
Final Entries (form enclosed) must be in writing and faxed or e-mailed by March 2nd, 2008, latest delay, to:
Organizing Committee
Room No. 412, Olympic Center 88 Bangyee-Dong,
Songpa-ku, Seoul 138-749 Republic of Korea
Telephone + 82 2 422 6165 Fax + 82 2 423 8097
email: [e-mail]
website: www.skating.or.kr

ENTRY AND INQUIRIES
Competitors must be present in Gangneung at the latest at 18:00 hours on the day of the Official Draw, or the
Organizing Committee must receive documented proof that the competitors are in transit and will arrive in
due time for the Championships. Competitors who do not comply with these requirements will be excluded.
Entries and inquiries should be addressed to the addresses mentioned above. (Address valid for the whole
duration of the Event).

ANTI-DOPING
Anti-doping tests will be carried out in accordance with the valid ISU Anti-Doping Code (ISU
Communications No. 1447 & 1448, or any further update of these Communications).

BOARD AND LODGING
The Organizing Committee will provide meals and lodging from lunch, Thursday, March 6th, 2008 until
lunch Monday, March 10th, 2008 for the participating competitors and one team leader from each participating
Member. The team leader is responsible for payment for meal and lodging expenses incurred in the official
hotel, except as stated above. All teams arriving prior to Thursday March 6th, 2008, must pay for the expenses
incurred by the additional team costs for the entire period directly to the O.C. upon arrival.
Guaranteed reservations for hotel rooms, not covered by the Organizing Committee, including parents,
supporters and additional team members must be made by February 7th, 2008, at the Organizing Committee.
During Competition days, lunch box will be served directly at the skating lounge in the ice rink with special
meal coupons which will be delivered to the participating athletes and team leader upon their arrival.
Official Hotel for Team;
Hotel Sun cruise
50-10 Jungdongjin-ri, Gangdong-Myun, Gangneung City , Gangwon Province, Korea
TEL : [phone] FAX : [phone]
www.esuncruise.com
* Normal day
Single Room: 105,000 KRW �� 132 USD per person (inc. breakfast and all local taxes)
Twin Room: 60,000 KRW ���� ���� USD per person (inc. breakfast and all local taxes)
* Saturday Night Only
Single Room: 155,000 KRW �� 194 USD per person (inc. breakfast and all local taxes)
Twin Room: 85,000 KRW ���� ������ USD per person (inc. breakfast and all local taxes)
Lunch : 25,000 KRW ���� ������������ , Dinner : 30,000 KRW ���� ��������������(inc. all local taxes)
Official Hotels for ISU Officials;
Hotel Hyundai Gyeongpodae
274-1 Gangmun-dong, Gangneung City, Gangwon Province, Korea
TEL : [phone] FAX : [phone]
www.hyundaihotel.com/
Single Room: KRW 99,700���� ����������������per person (inc. breakfast and all local taxes.)
Twin Room: KRW 57,350���� �� ������USD per person (inc. breakfast and all local taxes.)
Lunch: 25,000 KRW���� ������������. ���������������������������������������� ��������������(inc. all local taxes)
��
�� ��
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[aaosmts19]

Broadcasts!

In checking the schedule at web.wcsn.com/schedule/index.jsp?s=34032&e=isu_sched I found that WCSN.Com will be broadcasting (although not live, it appears) on:

03/08/08 Gangneung, KOR Short Track Speed Skating Watch on 03/22

03/09/08 Gangneung, KOR Short Track Speed Skating Watch on 03/23

Hopefully between now and then we'll find a live webcast somewhere. Hate to have to wait a couple of weeks after the race to see the action....although better late than never.

Linda

[apolosgal]

Are the times given on the schedule Eastern times? I get so confused. LOL


ETA: ok j/k I figured it out. I had to look at 3 different versions of the schedule.

[aaosmts19]

aaosmts19 said:

Broadcasts!

In checking the schedule at web.wcsn.com/schedule/index.jsp?s=34032&e=isu_sched I found that WCSN.Com will be broadcasting (although not live, it appears) on:

03/08/08 Gangneung, KOR Short Track Speed Skating Watch on 03/22

03/09/08 Gangneung, KOR Short Track Speed Skating Watch on 03/23

Hopefully between now and then we'll find a live webcast somewhere. Hate to have to wait a couple of weeks after the race to see the action....although better late than never.

Linda

I believe this site will have the show times added to the schedule when we get closer, as it has show times already listed for this weekend such as

02/09/08 Salt Lake City Short Track Speed Skating Watch at 8 p.m. ET

[aaosmts19]

Ok...who's going to Korea to report for us?


(just kidding......)

[jennaceeta25]

aaosmts19 said:

Ok...who's going to Korea to report for us?


(just kidding......)

It'll probably be over the internet, I would imagine!

[skaterswaltz]

Would Apolo compete in this?

[number1fan]

skaterswaltz said:

Would Apolo compete in this?

most definitely yes....next to the olympics the 'world and world team' are major events.

[skaterswaltz]

Wow - really? I can't believe as I was driving to work this morning I was actually thinking, "I wonder how much flights are to Korea?" I've completely lost it. There's really no way I could go -- it's like a 14 hour flight or something. I just hope there is a contingent from the U.S. there supporting him. I'm sure there will be.

But have you checked out the hotel where the skaters are staying? It's a friggin' "cruise ship" they've build on land (from the information on the US Speedskating website www.usspeedskating.org ).

webpoint.usspeedskating.org/files/Event_PDFs/638_Event_Info.pdf

Too much! Looks like fun.

www.esuncruise.com

Here it is in English:

english.esuncruise.com/

[aaosmts19]

So moving right into the worlds....
How are the participants determined? Does everyone start with a clean slate and register for whatever they want to? Do standings from World Cup carry over? Do December's Nationals results have anything to do with this?

Thanks.

[Lori]

December's Nationals determined who would compete both in the last 2 World Cups, AND the World Championships. The 5 women / 5 men who you saw pics of at the Nationals awards ceremonies in Dec are the ones who will be competing at Worlds (I think). For World Cups 5 & 6 they added Tina Koenig and Simon Cho who didn't get a 'penguin' in Dec, but they were the #6 finishers for women and men. If anybody knows differently, please correct me!

[floridafan]

Here is a link for Gangneung (sp?), South Korea... to give us an idea of what it is like... eng.gangneung.go.kr/... have not been there, but have been to parts of Korea like Seoul, and smaller cities whose names elude me - when I was in the Navy was stationed on Okinawa for 4 yrs... it is a very beautiful country, with friendly people, and fairly "westernized"... roads were large and they drove on the right side of the road, there were beautiful mountains, everyone wanted to visit with you... the shopping was to die for! Still have handmade eelskin purses, and shoes made-to-order, and a buff-color leather jacket... and for years had new Nike's in every color! We would take $500 with us and do everything we wanted and still come back w/ money... Great country!

[aaosmts19]

lori said:

December's Nationals determined who would compete both in the last 2 World Cups, AND the World Championships. The 5 women / 5 men who you saw pics of at the Nationals awards ceremonies in Dec are the ones who will be competing at Worlds (I think). For World Cups 5 & 6 they added Tina Koenig and Simon Cho who didn't get a 'penguin' in Dec, but they were the #6 finishers for women and men. If anybody knows differently, please correct me!

Thanks for the explanation. DOes this mean that AO won't be participating in the 500, or does he get to try out for that?

[Lori]

aaosmts19 said:

Thanks for the explanation. DOes this mean that AO won't be participating in the 500, or does he get to try out for that?

Again, I say I'll welcome a correction from anybody who knows more than I do, but I seem to recall that Apolo skated in ALL distances last year for Worlds. I don't think there are limits (2 events) as there are in World Cups. They have an overall Champion over ALL the distances, which seems to suggest that the participants can compete in all of them.

I think that what I just said only applies to the top 2 finishers - which would be Apolo and Jeff for the men, and Katherine and Allison for the women. The other 3 would be available for the relay only. I don't know what happens if Jeff with his broken collarbone is unable to compete - would #3 take his place (was that Ryan Leveille)?

[rach2crazy]

Thanks for posting this information, aaosmts19. Since I don't have WCSN, hopefully it will be on youtube. It better be. >
Hopefully Apolo will win. GO APOLO!