ISU World Champ - March 7-9, 2008 Pt 2

[mtnme]

Linmiste,
I'm pretty sure Jeff WAS in it too! (Ahhhh, a vertable sea of dark blue skinsuits!) Somebody correct me if I have finally lost track of it all! LOL

Jeff just didn't medal, Nor did our favorite Canook, Charles. But they all sure made a valiant effort at it. I'm still stunned at how Ryan Pulled away with the Korean and was a whole lap ahead of the rest of the pack.

Interesting observations Casper, - boy, I would have liked to have been a 'fly on the wall' for that conversation, if it took place.

Can't answer who is going to the world team competition. They do make them only a week apart so the team doesn't have to keep flying back and forth, but I hadn't heard who we were sending to it, if anyone. (Guess I have to do some research)

Well, between the glass of wine I had for dinner, and several nights in a row with limited sleep, - I think I'm done for the night. (Notice I didn't DARE have a glass the last two nights, I would have been toast!) Talk to you all later.

So are we all saving up to go to ALL the N. American World Cups, Nationals, and Worlds in Austria next season? (I think I'm gonna need a second job....)

[skaterswaltz]

linmiste said:

mtnme said:

Linmiste,
Let me see if I can 'splain it how the points are awarded.
The skaters get points for how they place in the heats, the quarterfinals, the semi finals and the finals. Even though Apolo was DQ'd in the FINAL of the 1500, he still had accrued points for being first or second for all the races leading up to the final. So he only looses points for the final. What the points are saying, is that Apolo was consistantly at the top for every race he skated.
(If he had been DQ'd at the beginning of the 1500, say the quarter finals, he would have lost points for the whole event, since he wouldn't have advanced to gain points in the Semi and the final because of it.

Does this make sense? Clear as Mud?
Which just means you have to come to a competition, because suddenly it all makes sense and is SO clear. LOL!

Oh, and it's RYAN who came in second in the 3000m. Watch the video, you can see him and the Korean bolt away from the pack in the first couple of laps, which is UNHEARD of in such a long and exhausting race. They were a full lap ahead of everyone. Smart move, and it really paid off for him!

Thanks, mntme. Sorry I put Jeff in the 3000 rather than Ryan; just didn't double-check my info. I do think it's kind of neat that they award points as the skaters progress, so the final score reflects all their efforts, not just whether they medaled in every race. That rewards consistency, and gives a better sense of who the best overall athlete is. I do remember someone (you? Lori?) posting that first place skaters get like 18 points, second place 13, third place 9, fourth place 7, fifth place 3, etc. -- or something to that effect -- but I have no idea where. Did I imagine it? In any case, this was a fun weekend.

Anyone know who is skating at Team Worlds? Isn't that next weekend?

Hey Linmiste - regarding the points system, this is from the Short Track Basics info in their media guide:

"Winners are determined by order of finish, not by time. Skaters can earn point according to their order of finish: 34, 21, 13, 8, 5 3 2 and 1 are awarded in descending order commencing with first place.

Points earned in all rounds leading up to the final are called seeding points. Points earned in final competition are called final points. Final points have preference over seeding points. The overall winner of an event is the skater with the greatest number of final points."

[wildfire]

Hey mtnme, I'm gonna get some sleep soon too, LoL! Red eyes not a good look!
Anywho, where is the team worlds? And that would be fun to go to Austria!!! I wonder if they need any more zamboni drivers...?!? LOL!!!

[tdav]

It is! How weird!

[Lori]

Linmiste, I love being called a 'short track angel' - I wasn't the one who originally posted the points system, but thanks Skaterswaltz for putting it up there again!

Wags - for the HDTV stuff. I have an HDTV, and what I understood is that you can transfer HD shows to VHS and DVD with an ordinary recorder, but the results just won't be in HD (it'll play back in regular definition). I HAVE transferred to VHS, but I have to do some crazy re-connections to accomplish it. If you're using an HDMI cable, that's most likely the culprit.

I haven't tried to transfer to DVD from my HDTV. I have my DVD recorder connected to my standard TV, 'cause IMO 'why bother' with all the reconnections if it isn't gonna show up in HD anyway?

To use Mtnme's terminology - 'Clear as mud?' To cut to the chase, and so as not to bore everybody, if you're using an HDMI cable, just PM me and maybe I can coach you through the reconnections.

Ruff - I love your avi - it's so 'you'.

[lilyover76]

wags said:

I'll make a few calls tomorrow. In the meantime...if anyone has any suggestions, I'm listening.

PS - If I can figure this out, I still have the WC6 recorded. Maybe I could copy that also. But the same problem...recorded in HD off UNHD.

Wags... and anyone else, for that matter... if you could get a good copy onto DVD, I can make copies to DVD, as long as there is no 'copy-guard' on it. Just let me know.

[angelina]

Woo hoo!! I'm so late to the party, but Congrats Apolo!! Unbelievable!

[aaostms19 notloggedin]

Where are all of the final news articles? Its been over 24 hours and there haven't been the usual flurry of article about the last day of racing.

Even USS doesn't have any news articles about the weekend.

whah, whah, whah

[aaosmts19 notloggedin]

www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2008/03/136_20481.html


Koreans Dominate Short Track Meet, Ohno Shines


/AP-Yonhap
By Jonathan Sanfilippo
Staff Reporter

For South Korean speedskaters, the World Short Track Championships were not only an opportunity to establish themselves among the best athletes in their sport, but also a rare chance to show off their skills in front of fans in their home country.

Many of Korea's participants made the most of the occasion, as they combined to win titles in five events ¯ four men's and one women's ¯ at the International Skating Union (ISU)-sanctioned event, which took place Friday through Sunday at the Gangneung Indoor Ice Rink in Gangwon Province.

Among Korea's biggest winners was Lee Ho-suk, who captured two gold medals and one silver in the men's competition. After placing second in the 1,500 meters with a time of 2 minutes, 18.971 seconds on Friday, he won the 1,000 meters (1:26.462) on Sunday and later skated the second leg of South Korea's champion 5,000-meter relay (6:51.148).

Another one of Korea's top performers was Song Kyung-taik, who captured gold medals in the men's 1,500 meters (2:18.916) and as the first leg of the 5,000-meter relay. He also earned bronze medals in the 500 meters (42.632 seconds), held Saturday, and the 1,000 meters (1:26.615).

Lee Seung-hoon earned two gold medals for Korea, winning the men's 3,000 meters (4:53.620) and skating the third leg of the 5,000-meter relay.

Korea's only women's championship came in Sunday's 3,000-meter relay, where the team of Jung Eun-ju, Yang Shin-young, Park Seung-hi and Kim Min-jung won with a time of 4:16.261.

In other highlights from the meet, which featured more than 200 athletes from 32 countries, Wang Meng of China earned three gold medals by winning the women's 1,500 meters (2:22.819) on Friday, 500 meters (43.888 seconds) Saturday and 1,000 meters (1:32.527) Sunday.

Apolo Anton Ohno of the United States won gold in the men's 500 meters (42.568 seconds) then placed second in the 1,000 meters (1:26.528) and third in the 3,000 meters (5:00.838).

[e-mail]

[linmiste]

Skaterwaltz, thanks for the lowdown on how points are awarded:
"Winners are determined by order of finish, not by time. Skaters can earn point according to their order of finish: 34, 21, 13, 8, 5 3 2 and 1 are awarded in descending order commencing with first place." That helps when you try to understand how someone who was actually DQ'd still made World Champion. Speaking of which, I notice that the article AAO posted did NOT mention that Apolo was the World Champion! Guess the Koreans couldn't bring themselves to publicly admit that fact. Thanks for the article, AAO.

Maybe a bag of money will fall out of the sky and land in my backyard. If so, I'll pay for all of us to go to the events next year!

[number1fan]

wildfire said:

Hey mtnme, I'm gonna get some sleep soon too, LoL! Red eyes not a good look!
Anywho, where is the team worlds? And that would be fun to go to Austria!!! I wonder if they need any more zamboni drivers...?!? LOL!!!

hey wildfire...the world teams are in harbin, china this coming weekend...they're probably over there already.

does anyone know if apolo is competing this weekend?...not sure if i read or heard that he wasn't or if i'm losing it .

[WildfireNLI]

Thanks number1!! Have a great day everyone! I wonder how many athletes are on the Teams?!?

[Lori]

Based on last year it'll be the same team that was in Korea. Last year Alex Izykowski replaced Apolo so he could start doing DWTS, but I think that was the only change.

I looked at the ISU results page from last year, and here's how it looks like it's run:

In each division (men's and ladies) there are 8 national teams, placed into 2 brackets with 4 teams each.

Each bracket competes in 4 events - 1000M, 500M, 3000M and a relay. (3000M ladies; 5000M men)

In the 1000 & 500, each country selects 4 of their 5 team members to compete, and each event is run in 4 heats, with 1 member of each team in each heat. However, the 3000M is a single race with 8 skaters, 2 from each team.

Points are awarded in the 500 and 1000 as follows: 1st = 5; 2nd = 3; 3rd = 2; 4th = 1. The same points scale is used for 1st-4th in the 3000M, but no points are awarded for 5th-8th.

Then the 4 teams run the relay, and the point scale is: 1st = 10; 2nd = 6; 3rd = 4; 4th = 2.

In each bracket, the top finishing team is advanced to the A Finals and the bottom team is relegated to the B Finals. Then the middle 2 teams compete in a Repechage round with the middle 2 teams in the other bracket.

In the Repechage Round and the Final Round, the slate is wiped clean, points from previous rounds are disregarded, and all teams start with 0 points.

In the Repechage Round, the 4 teams go through exactly the same round of events, in exactly the same way. The top 2 teams are advanced to the A Finals, the bottom teams to the B Finals.

In the Final Round (both A & B), the teams skate as above. The points gained in this round determine the final rankings and medalists. 1st-4th place come from the A Group, and 5th-8th place come from the B Group.

Obviously, it's best to finish 1st in the Initial Round, 'cause you get a 'bye' into the finals.

This sounds really interesting, and we have a very strong US team this year, based on last week's performance!

[wags]

mtnme said:

So are we all saving up to go to ALL the N. American World Cups, Nationals, and Worlds in Austria next season? (I think I'm gonna need a second job....)

What you need is a passport! Are you working on that? (did I just hear my mother in here?)

And thanks for the Karma...whoever.

[mtnme]

wags said:

mtnme said:

So are we all saving up to go to ALL the N. American World Cups, Nationals, and Worlds in Austria next season? (I think I'm gonna need a second job....)

What you need is a passport! Are you working on that? (did I just hear my mother in here?)

And thanks for the Karma...whoever.

Yes, I am. Turns out my birth certificate isn't the official one,(it was the hospital one) so I had to send away for the city/state certificate first. (nothing is EVER easy, is it?....)

And you're welcome....