November 11, 2008
The U.S. Junior Championships are being held this weekend in Bay City, Michigan. (note: Comments are still down - very sorry for the inconvenience!)
Bay City Times | Top women ready to battle for World Team spots
Lana Gehring, Aly Dudek and Mary Grace - three senior members on the American women's speedskating team - will battle each other for the top honor in the U.S. Junior Short Track Speedskating Championship/World Team Trials in Bay City this weekend.''Depending on whether or not anything odd happens, the girls side could turn out to be a real battle for No. 1 and No. 4 spots,'' said Al Izykowski, Bay County Speedskating Club president and meet director. ''But Aly and Lana have been clearly a notch above the rest of the field thus far.
''Nonetheless, all of the others have made significant gains since last year and the race is definitely on.''
Bay City Times | Speed on Ice
J.R. Celski has a target on his back heading into the U.S. Short Track Speedskating Championships/World Team Trials that begin Friday at the Bay County Civic Arena.Not only is the 18-year-old phenom from Federal Way, Wash., the defending men's champ, he's one of the nation's elite senior team members.
The article also highlights skaters Walter Rusk and Barry Winslow.
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November 2, 2008
American Cup 1 Results
American Cup 1 is taking place this weekend in Cleveland. Results from day 1 are now available
Posted by noelle at 8:09 AM | Comments (0)
November 1, 2008
OZ Supporters Wooed to the Other Side…Almost!
by David Gilday
ftront (holding sign): Lori (GND), DebbieF, Skaterswaltz, JL, Mtnme & Wags back: Jack and Lyn Jayner
Caught up in the excitement of World Cup 2 in Vancouver, a group of dedicated OZ supporters were on the brink of changing allegiance last weekend. With promises of clean air, fresh water, great trout fishing, and the famous free health care, 6 of short track’s best fans were on the verge Saturday of crossing over to cheer for the Canadian team first and the US Team second. A last moment intervention by Jack and Lyn Jayner, seen to have snuck into the picture, raised issues with mosquitoes, -45 winter temperatures and short winter days.
So what if there’s snow on the ground already, Jack. At least there’s no more grass to cut.
Foiled this time but not giving up!
Posted by noelle at 11:22 AM | Comments (0)
OZ operative risks life and limb for podium shot
I'm sorry to say that we had a server crash right this past wee and the most recent entries and comments were lost as a result. I am attempting to recreate the last one here. Unfortunately, commenting remains down. Very sorry about the downtime!
A word to Canadians and border denizens: CBC will air the Vancouver World Cup today at 3PM ET.
Thanks to our operative for putting it all on the line to get us this shot of our gold medal-winning men's relay team last Sunday. From our operative in Vancouver: "As an uncredentialled operative, without a telephoto lens, I had to shoot from the side of the podium - standing on a seat arm on the right, and a seat back on the left... both of which obviously wanted OZ to get this photo, as they did not break under the weight!"
Team USA from center left, clockwise (all in red jackets):
Apolo Ohno (in bandana), Charles Ryan Leveille (in ballcap, backwards), JR Celski, Travis Jayner, Anthony Lobello, Jeff Simon
Posted by noelle at 8:11 AM | Comments (0)
October 26, 2008
Day 3 results from World Cup #2 Vancouver
Relay gold for USA men and bronze for Allison Baver in the 1000m - way to go!!
Men's relay A final
1. UNITED STATES 6:52.147
2. CANADA 6:52.224
3. GREAT BRITAIN 6:57.014
DQ JAPAN
Women's relay A final
1. CHINA 4:11.386
2. KOREA 4:12.752
3. CANADA 4:16.715
4. NETHERLANDS 4:16.894
5. ITALY 4:21.980
Men's 1000m #2 A final
1. LEE Jung-Su KOR 1:29.688
2. GILDAY Michael CAN 1:29.842
3. BEAULIEU-TINKER Remi CAN 1:30.022
4. OHNO Apolo Anton USA 1:31.903
J.R. Celski won the B final; Ryan Charles Leveille was eliminated in the quarter finals.
Women's 1000m #2 A final
1. SHIN Sae-Bom KOR 1:30.907
2. ZHOU Yang CHN 1:30.939
3. BAVER Allison USA 1:31.151
4. ZHANG Hui CHN 1:31.171
Katherine Reutter finished 3rd in the B final; Kimberly Derrick was eliminiated in the quarter finals.
Men's 500m A final
1. LEE Ho-Suk KOR 41.321
2. TREMBLAY Francois-Louis CAN 41.823
3. KWAK Yoon-Gy KOR 41.883
4. SIMON Jeff USA 42.033
Travis Jayner and Anthony Lobello were eliminated in the quarter finals.
Women's 500m A final
1. WANG Meng CHN 43.449
2. ST-GELAIS Marianne CAN 43.989
3. YANG Shin-Young KOR 45.052
4. NOVOTNA Katerina CZE 46.217
Alyson Dudek skated through the repechage rounds through to the repechage A final, where she was advanced to the medal round quarter finals of the 5000m; she was ultimately eliminated in the semifinals. Lana Gehring was 3rd in the repechage A final; Maria Garcia was disqualified in the repechage quarter finals.
Posted by noelle at 8:15 PM | Comments (2)
Some impressions from Vancouver
One of our short track operatives reports in with some great tidbits from Friday and Saturday in Vancouver (along with photos!):
As a "test event" for the Olympics, they are taking their security very seriously at the Pacific Coliseum - staffed by people who mean business.The new, well cushioned seats are very comfortable for the first two hours - maybe three - but the remaining 7-8 on Friday got achy... though nothing like typical meets.
There was a substantial Korean fan contingent in the house today, roaring whenever one of their blue skins took the lead. They cheered loudly for Canadians, also, and of course for Apolo.
The "OZonettes" were in full voice, too, and were seen sharing their enthusiasms with newcomers.
Some of the racing was downright spellbinding. Just when you think you've seen it all...! Maneuvering with grace and sudden changes of direction used to be the domain of a very few - such as Italy's Fabio Carta. Now his moves seem basic, and many of the best new moves are being done by the USA. Fantastic.
In the security zones inhabited by us paying-blokes, the "tourists" (ones who've never seen short track "live" before) sitting around us were definitely amazed by the races-within-races - in which fortunes changed frequently, and changed in surprising ways. The newbies were helped by an excellent announcing team of Dany Lemay (French) and Robert Laurie (English) who kept track of the racers' names, frequently providing timely explanatory information. Several times I heard neighbors saying "Ah-ha!" in happy appreciation.
Korean Mens Relay Team: in the quarterfinal they were ahead about a quarter of a lap, one of the guys fell along the boards on the sstraightaway and they didn't have good 'cover' to tag him, and fell behind about 3/4 of a lap and couldn't recover that distance in the remaining laps.
In the women's relay semi final, the American ladies were awesome but ended in third behind the Canadians in the last two strides at the finish... thrilling but SAD. On a positive note, they were GOOD and can be threatening for the top of the podium soon!
The men's semi with USA, Canada, Italy and Germany could have been a final...also very exciting!
An alternative to Olivier Jean's photo from SLC
Inside the Pacific Coliseum on Saturday at awards time. Note podium at lower right, and real-time video on 4-sided center-ice scoreclock.
Scoreboard video showing instant replay of a pile-up
Charles Ryan Leveille ("El Bandido") approaches the start line
Jeff Simon on the podium to receive his 1,500 meter bronze
In-crowd interview, and prize games, during flood
Posted by noelle at 11:17 AM | Comments (6)
Vancouver Day 2 Press Roundup
Vancouver Sun | Apolo Anton Ohno dethroned as Canadian takes gold
Charles Hamelin of Montreal passed American Apolo Anton Ohno on the first turn of the final lap Saturday to claim a victory in a thrilling and controversial men's 1,000-metre final.It was the first gold medal of the season for Hamelin whose brother, Francois, took the bronze medal. Ohno, who had grabbed the lead with five laps to go in the nine-lap race, crossed the line in second but was disqualified after the race for what the officials called "cross-tracking." He appeared to nudge Hamelin in the turn, but didn't see it that way.
"I got hit twice, I had the right of way because I was in the lead," said Ohno. "Charles kind of hit me twice. I thought for sure he was going to be disqualified after the race, but it's out of my control."
Hamelin, of course, saw it differently. "He ran into me twice."
Speed Skating Canada | Hamelin Brothers Take Over Podium at Vancouver Short Track World Cup
Brothers Charles and François Hamelin pleased the crowd at the Pacific Coliseum when they took the gold and bronze medal respectively in the 1000m final. It was the first time the Canadian brothers were stepping on the podium together for an international competition.“It’s amazing”, said François afterwards. “Once I heard I was going to be on the podium with my brother, I was really excited! It’s even more amazing that it’s happening here, in Vancouver, in the event that’s the official preparation for the Olympic Games…”
Globe and Mail | Hamelin brothers own podium
The Province | Short track has come a long way since the '90s
It says something about his sport but, at the ripe old age of 28, Francois-Louis Tremblay can look back at the evolution of short track speed skating the way Walter Hagen could look back at the evolution of professional golf.When Tremblay first started way back in the late '90s, for example, skate blades were crudely welded to the boot in one piece. Imagine.
Training methods and race strategies, in comparison to today's standards, were also from another planet. And don't get him started about the remarkable acceleration in times.
But for this sport, the more interesting question is where does it go from here because, after its promising start, it has yet to move beyond the niche it carved out when Tremblay first started.
CBC Sports | Brothers Hamelin reach short-track podium
Like good family men, speed-skating brothers Charles and François Hamelin stuck together Saturday, finishing first and third respectively in the men's 1,000 metres at a short-track World Cup event.The medals were the first by Canadian athletes in Vancouver this weekend.
Fellow Canadian Jessica Hewitt was one of three Canadians disqualified over the course of the day for various offences. She felt that she didn't deserve the disqualification, bu said it's not something to dwell on.
"I was actually surprised at the call," Hewitt said. "I don't totally think I deserved it. It happens — you get calls, some are good, some you disagree with. "I raced pretty well but I just got the DQ at the end of the race. It's part of short track."
The Province | Fans go wild for short-track skaters
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