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Post by bubblebuttsbabe on Feb 25, 2009 3:13:45 GMT -5
LINK: english.donga.com/srv/service.php3?bicode=070000&biid=2009022537878- - - - - `No. 2` Short Track Star Lee Strives to Reach the TopFEBRUARY 25, 2009 07:41 “Always No. 2? I’m happier because I have the goal to become No. 1.” Time has come for Lee Ho-suk, 23, the eldest member of the men’s short track skating team. He has won two of three events at the ISU World Cup Short Track this season. If he continues this pace, he will be a leading contender at next year’s Vancouver Winter Olympics. Contrary to his achievements, Lee is still considered No. 2 on the team. He won silver medals in the 1,000 and 1,500-meter finals at the 2006 Turin Winter Olympics, with teammate Ahn Hyun-soo winning gold and getting all the glory. Lee is still No. 2, ranking second in the world as of yesterday. Instead of Ahn, who will miss this season due to injury, Lee’s rival this time is Sung Si-back, 22. Lee, however, is not fazed at being second-best over the past four years. “I think calling me always number two is a way to express affection. It tells me to don’t stop here and move forward to the top,” he said laughingly. “I get along well with Hyun-soo, who is known to have bad relations with me. I don’t think there is a fight. It was only a matter between adults, and athletes must focus on the game,” Lee said. Thanks to figure skating sensation Kim Yu-na, figure skating is gaining popularity in Korea over short track. Her success has changed the dynamics of skating; 70 percent of skaters opted for short track in the past, but 70 percent are now learning figure skating. When short track was a fad, ice rinks used to be full of young students who wanted to pursue the sport. Lee sees this as an optimistic sign. “I am also a fan of Kim Yu-na. Figure skating helps short-track skating grow popular because they are all skating anyway. This is rather a good chance to publicize skating,” he said. But the optimistic Lee is nervous about winning the national competition in April. The competition is tough. Only five or so people out of 50 to 70 can win a place on the national team. Some even say making the national team is more difficult than winning the gold medal in the Olympics because Korea has so many skaters among the world’s top 30. Perhaps this is why Lee remains tense. “I really want to compete in the Vancouver Olympics next year. Now I want to be number one, not number two,” he said. - - - - - - GO LEE! (but watch out for Ohno! :])
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Post by Lori on Feb 28, 2009 13:15:55 GMT -5
I know it's short notice, but it occurred to me that there may be some people who'd be interested... IF ANY OF YOU LIVE IN THE L.A. AREA and are looking for something to do on a Saturday night, SoCal SSA is having their Silver Skates Championship tonight at 5pm. This event is sanctioned by US Speedskating. If you've never seen ST live and in person, here's a great chance to give it a look-see without buying a plane ticket! Just a little gas money... Even though some of our skaters are off to the 'big show', there will be an impressive lineup there tonight, including: Tina Koenig Lezleigh Jaworski Jon Sermeno Kyle Uyehara Walter Rusk Joey Lindsey Also, you'll see the young SoCal ‘pocket rockets’, Sarah and Jacqueline Chen, who hold many age-group National records. Not to mention their fabulous coaches Wilma Boomstra and Rusty Smith, and photog-extraordinaire, Jerry Search (if they're not on their way to Vienna). Here’s a link to the map for the Ice Center (Lakewood Glacial Gardens): www.socalspeedskating.org/scssa/maps-02.htmI'm volunteering for the event, and I've been told that I'll most likely be a finish line judge. If you're there and see me, come say HI! |
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Post by gasp on Feb 28, 2009 21:07:59 GMT -5
Sounds like a fun evening. My compute would be of the airline ticket variety though. Hope Lori's having fun.
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Post by wags on Feb 28, 2009 23:40:27 GMT -5
I'm volunteering for the event, and I've been told that I'll most likely be a finish line judge. If you're there and see me, come say HI! Very cool Lori!! I hope you have a great time and can stay focused. I know I would get so involved in watching the race I'd forget my duties. Can't wait to hear how everyone did! |
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Post by skaterswaltz on Mar 1, 2009 2:58:13 GMT -5
IF ANY OF YOU LIVE IN THE L.A. AREA and are looking for something to do on a Saturday night, SoCal SSA is having their Silver Skates Championship tonight at 5pm. I read this about 2:00PM today and about five minutes later I thought, "Hey, that would be fun to go and see myself some short track!" I called my short track friend here and we drove down right away. It was great to see Lori there "officiating" and watch skaters competing from ages from about 6 to 60 - I'm not kidding. Some of them were so itty-bitty and you just knew we were watching future Olympians. Lori got invited to the awards banquet and Nancy and I got to go with her! They also were having a reunion of speed skaters from the 1940s - 1960s. It was so fun talking to them and they loved telling their stories. Some competed in the 1964 Olympics and some of them were Silver Skates Champions. They had lots of articles and photos posted on the wall and in albums. They didn't even wear helmets then! They said back then the sport was very popular and they would get a lot of press coverage. They are all still great buddies and you can see how speed skating is always in their blood. Then when they were giving out awards, they also gave an award to Lori for all of her invaluable volunteering and her contribution and enthusiasm for the sport! She was so surprised! It was wonderful. I took some pictures and I will upload tomorrow since it's really late now. |
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Post by Lori on Mar 1, 2009 4:19:14 GMT -5
I'm late checking in, 'cause I had plans for a 'Girl's Night In' at a friend's house after the meet - totally unrelated to the ST event - and I just got home!
Oh, Lordy, what a night we had at the rink! Nothing I've ever done with SCSSA was quite like this - it was mostly our local skaters competing, and I was a finish line judge. I was in charge of watching and noting the helmet number of the 2nd place finisher in each event, and sometimes it was a close call. I was told that I might get so wrapped up in the competition that I'd lose my head, and it did happen once - in the Master's Division. I wrote down the helmet number of the winner and had to call my ticket back to correct it. *slapping forehead* "Oh, sh!t, I was supposed to be watching the 2nd place guy..."
One competition note: Our sweet Lezleigh Jaworski, the only elite female skater in the competiton, had to compete against the guys! She did an admirable job, and in the relay she pushed Walter Rusk - tall, strong and BIG... whenever that happened, the crowd started grunting, which was quite funny!
I thought that the excitement of the competition would be the highlight of the evening, but NOT... as soon as I got settled in for the first race, I had a tap on my shoulder and looked up to see that Skaterswaltz and our friend Nancy had decided to come to the event! Can I say BONUS!~
We had a blast! There was quite a crowd there, and most of them were 'older' - I was told that there was a banquet afterwards, and we were invited. (And we didn't even have to BEG!) Shortly thereafter we realized just what an elite crowd we were with. As we entered the banquet room, the walls were FULL of photos and newspaper articles about the people who had been surrounding us during the competition. Several had flown cross-country to attend. It was called the Silver Skates Championship, and has been contested for many years - the 'veterans' we were sitting with were Silver-Haired, but they had Golden Hearts.
Many, such as Stan Fail, were former Olympians in 'speedskating' - before Short Track was called 'Short Track'. It was a little confusing trying to decipher the technicalities of the sport prior to our current interpretation, but we truly felt we were in the presence of 'royalty'.
I watched one of our current skaters perusing the old articles - many, if not most, were from the LA Times. He seemed duly impressed - his comment was something like "Man, look at all these articles - we'd never get this kind of coverage now..."
I truly wasn't expecting such a memorable night, so I didn't bring my camera - I expected to do my job and go home. But Skaterswaltz did get some 'money shots' - Jerry Search even asked her to send him one of her photos of the 'Olympians'!
One More Thing (and this should please you, Mtnme!) One of the female honorees saw Skaterswaltz' Rocker Fund badge (yup, she wore her 'blue jacket'), and she recognized it!
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sk8er
Full Member
Posts: 145
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Post by sk8er on Mar 1, 2009 20:42:46 GMT -5
Lori thanks so much for the report. Our sport is not as popular as it once was, and people have so many other interesting activities competing for their time. The SoCal skating program is, in my opinion, the best in the country outside the official programs in Marquette and SLC. The skaters there are truly at the top of the class. Lori I'm sure you were watching future Olympians. There are stories to tell from there......I once spent an evening with the guy who "discovered" Rusty Smith when he was very young. He got him into speedskating. He got so interested in telling his stories that he got lost on the freeways and we were half way to San Diego before he got turned around!  Do keep us posted. You are in the "thick" of the skating world down there! |
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Post by skaterswaltz on Mar 2, 2009 0:36:32 GMT -5
Here's some photos I took at the Silver Skates Championships yesterday, Feb. 28, at the Lakewood Glacial Gardens in Los Angeles. It's the home of SoCal Speedskating ( www.socalspeedskating.org ). A lot of fabulous skaters came out of this club like Rusty Smith, Jeff Simon, Jordan Malone, JR Celski and Lezleigh Jaworski (Lori could advise on the entire list). Coaches Wilma Boomstra and Rusty Smith were there yesterday as well. Lori gave us a head's up on the board and Nancy and I zoomed down there.Here's Lori officiating: Look at the size/age differentiation with these skaters! Some definite Olympic champions are in there somewhere. Here's two very successful skaters from speedskating's past: Stanley Fail (he participated in, among other things, the 1964 Olympics) and Ernie Alger (he was, among other things, 1960 Silver Skates Derby Champion): Here's Stanley Fail in the day:
Here's Ernie Alger - note no helmet and look at the condition of that ice!? Here they are in action. That’s Ernie Alger third from the left (early 1950s): Another champion - here's JoAnn Stevens who was a Silver Skates champion in the early 1950s: In this photo, JoAnn Stevens is on the far left and Stanley Fail is the 4th from the left: Here's the Glory Wall for the SoCal Speedskating Association at the Glacial Gardens highlighting the impressive skaters from this club: Here's close-up of Rusty and Apolo from Torino and you can also see the 2008 USA World Team photo - 3 of them are from this SoCal Club: I was speaking to Lezleigh Jaworski and she was saying again how much she appreciated the support from the Rocker Fund and that it actually helped her to continue to skate. She also said how much it means to see the fans attending and rooting for them at the competitions. It was so wonderful to be there watching short track -- and we didn't even have to get on a plane to go home! I hope you enjoyed seeing a bit of history from this wonderful sport.
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Post by mtnme on Mar 2, 2009 10:08:13 GMT -5
Thanks for all the photos Skaterswaltz.  Wow, it was like a little ST history lesson. |
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Post by skaterswaltz on Mar 2, 2009 13:04:44 GMT -5
You're very welcome, mtnme! And I noticed in the old newspaper articles they are from the DeMorra Club and that's what they're still called. Here's their website: www.demorra.comIt says on their website: "Since 1938-DeMorra Speed Skating Club-Club of Champions." And Jerry Search supplies most of the photography. So cool. It also says: "Welcome to DeMorra Speed Skating Club's website. Everyone in Southern California is welcome to try the Olympic sport of Short Track Ice Speed Skating. We practice on Wednesday and Saturday evenings at Glacial Garden Skating Arena in Lakewood. First two visits are FREE for those of you new to the sport. Children are especially welcome. We have speed skates and helmets available for you to use at the ice rink. Our head coach is former US National Team Coach Wilma Boomstra. Our members include novices and Olympians. So come to the ice rink and join in the fun. Groups are welcome but please schedule a date." ---------------------------------- Hey, ladies -- let's go!  |
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Post by Lori on Mar 4, 2009 11:46:29 GMT -5
Welcome to DeMorra Speed Skating Club's website. Everyone in Southern California is welcome to try the Olympic sport of Short Track Ice Speed Skating. We practice on Wednesday and Saturday evenings at Glacial Garden Skating Arena in Lakewood. First two visits are FREE for those of you new to the sport. Children are especially welcome. We have speed skates and helmets available for you to use at the ice rink. Our head coach is former US National Team Coach Wilma Boomstra. Our members include novices and Olympians. So come to the ice rink and join in the fun. Groups are welcome but please schedule a date. ---------------------------------- Hey, ladies -- let's go! Hmmm, that gives me some ideas, Skaterswaltz... several of us have been talking about getting together in the off-season - maybe we could meet up on a Saturday afternoon to watch the World Championships broadcast (I can record it), then go out on Saturday night to Lakewood for some ST exercise! I'm not positive, but from what I've seen in the past, the novices skate at the same time the team is practicing - we'd hang out in the center of the rink trying to stay upright while the elite team (literally) runs circles around us... That would be so cool! I should start looking for a pillow to strap to my a$$, and some extras to pass around... |
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Post by skaterswaltz on Mar 4, 2009 14:00:45 GMT -5
Welcome to DeMorra Speed Skating Club's website. Everyone in Southern California is welcome to try the Olympic sport of Short Track Ice Speed Skating. We practice on Wednesday and Saturday evenings at Glacial Garden Skating Arena in Lakewood. First two visits are FREE for those of you new to the sport. Children are especially welcome. We have speed skates and helmets available for you to use at the ice rink. Our head coach is former US National Team Coach Wilma Boomstra. Our members include novices and Olympians. So come to the ice rink and join in the fun. Groups are welcome but please schedule a date. ---------------------------------- Hey, ladies -- let's go! Hmmm, that gives me some ideas, Skaterswaltz... several of us have been talking about getting together in the off-season - maybe we could meet up on a Saturday afternoon to watch the World Championships broadcast (I can record it), then go out on Saturday night to Lakewood for some ST exercise! I'm not positive, but from what I've seen in the past, the novices skate at the same time the team is practicing - we'd hang out in the center of the rink trying to stay upright while the elite team does their workouts. That would be so cool! I should start looking for a pillow to strap to my a$$, and some extras to pass around... ------------- That would be a hoot! I'd be game to fall around on the ice for an hour on my a**. And hey, I could take on that little bitty boy we saw competing on Saturday - the one with the about size 2 hockey skates. He was SOOOO adorable and is probably a future Olympic champion. If all else fails, I can help groom the ice or make coffee in the snack bar. |
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Post by Lori on Mar 4, 2009 14:05:57 GMT -5
...I'll bring the Costco-size bottle of Advil...  Okay, who's 'game' for this adventure? (You can also volunteer to be cheerleaders - or hecklers - and Advil-dispensers for the rest of us fools!) |
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Post by mtnme on Mar 4, 2009 14:47:43 GMT -5
...I'll bring the Costco-size bottle of Advil... Okay, who's 'game' for this adventure? (You can also volunteer to be cheerleaders - or hecklers - and Advil-dispensers for the rest of us fools!) I'm game, but I need some advanced notice to either hop a plane (enough to get reasonable airfare) or make an 8 hour drive....  ...I'm due to visit family anyway... |
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Post by rinkydink on Mar 4, 2009 19:59:06 GMT -5
Oh man, I'm looking at that racing picture from 1950. No pads at all!!  |
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~Lori
