posted by noelle . |
10:06 AM
Monday, December 16, 2002
DOLCI: Bormio, Final Course
It’s taken a long time to reach the end, but this story is not complete without saying thanks to all those who gave us such an unforgettable experience in Bormio. I don’t know if they’ll see this, but…
To Apolo Anton Ohno: Although I didn't get to say it in Bormio, thank you for the way you shared a piece of your victory, and for being such an incredible inspiration in the first place. We're all here because of you.
To Bormio Ghiaccio: Thank you for putting on an unforgettable three-day extravaganza!
To Fabio Carta:Mille grazie for your hospitality and friendly introduction to Bormio.
To My Fellow Travelers: Thanks for sharing all the fun times! Next year in...?
To the Ohno Zone Community: Thanks to each and every one of you for your unending enthusiasm and support. You make OZ the special place it is.
To Todd Stuart: Thanks for your friendship, and for making every moment possible to begin with.
To the Athletes and Staff of the U.S. Short Track Team: Thanks for representing our country with such class. Get ready for some real cheering in Salt Lake City!
Last but definitely not least, to Yuki Ohno: I can't thank you enough for your incredible generosity, and for 'getting' the power of the Web. Your support means a lot!
I had even more fun than I had expected and am more glad than I realized I’d be that I went to Bormio. Everything was perfect: the weather, the town, the lovely hospitable Italians, the company, the awesome competition and Apolo’s great success.
Things We Learned:
+ Korea, China and Japan will likely be absent from World Cup #5 and Italy from both 5 and 6. Fabio Carta told us Italy was staying home because the team prefers to train for Worlds, which take place less than a month later than the World Cups. Takako learned the scoop on the Asian teams from Japanese skater Satoru Terao. The Asian teams are missing the North American World Cups due to their participation in the Asian Winter Games, which take place at the same time. This is a shame. It definitely depletes the competition when so many strong teams are absent. (Note: according to Mylene, at least China will be in Chicoutimi for WC#6).
+ To my knowledge, there is no video available of the 1000m heat I described, the one where Apolo decided to add hurdles to the mix. Yuki said he regretted not capturing the moment either (he records the semi-finals and finals of every race). I am working on this still though, so stay tuned.
+ I hereby award extra points to Apolo Ohno and Derek Gray for amazing feats on skates: to Apolo for his now-famous leap over the fallen skater, and to Derek for an impossible recovery from a slip during the men’s 5000m relay semi-final. I’m convinced that anyone else would have fallen, in both cases!
+ I don’t think there can be a bad angle from which to watch a short track race. Some people (like Liz) prefer to be up high, for the best perspective on all aspects of the action. Others prefer to be near the corners at rinkside, where you can see the skaters as they whiz around the turn and set up their passes -- and for great camera angles. There is nothing like the feel of ice chips stinging your cheeks as the pack flies by. My favorite place to watch so far is at the start line. The start has its own poetry as each skater approaches the line and waits for the start with their game face on.
+ Starting a short track race is an art in itself. I had no idea from watching on tv how it worked. Before the race, the competitors glide around the ice, till the starter summons them with a whistle. They wait for the call “Go to the start” to line up on the designated starting line (always in an inscrutable European accent). Additional whistles and hand gestures from the judge indicate a skater needs to make more space, or plant his or her toe more squarely in the proper spot. Once the skaters are lined up to the judge’s satisfaction, he calls “Ready”, at which point the skaters assume their starting position, and the starter’s pistol sends them off with a bang. (see the video of the start I posted the other day for reference!)
+ Something else you never see watching short track on TV: the fascinating interaction between skaters and their coaches as races take place. All the coaches stand in a designated coaches’ area rinkside. In some cases, you’ll see skaters turn to look directly at their coach as they pass with each lap (how they manage to do this, I’ll never know). Ahn Hyun-Soo in particular always looks directly at his coach with each lap. Then there is the loud, vocal coaching taking place in some cases. The coaches from Great Britain, Ukraine, Germany and Japan were especially loud, shouting non-stop words of encouragement or derision at their athletes (it’s sometimes difficult to tell the difference!). Stephen Gough, the U.S. coach, had a more low-key style. He seemed a calm presence at the side of the rink, sometimes leaning over the boards as his skater passed by to offer a word, but unlike some of the other coaches, I never heard what it was. I witnessed other coaches kick the boards or tear out their hair in frustration when their athletes fell. The different approaches are fascinating to observe.
Impression: Apolo and coach photo courtesy Liz
+ Apolo. Words can’t do justice to witnessing Apolo skate in person, but I’ll try. He’s brilliant, and doesn’t make many mistakes that my inexperienced eyes can see. Be prepared to be blown away watching him execute passes late in the race, or next time he decides to jump over someone mid-race!
Apolo skates like no one else. I was dimly aware of this from watching my Olympic tapes, but it’s so apparent at an event like the World Cup. These athletes all skate well and make speedskating look like art. Then there is Apolo, who just moves across the ice like no one else does. No one out there looks like him. You could put all the male skaters on the ice together in the same skinsuit and skates and no helmet number, and you could pick Apolo out in an instant just by the way he moves, like liquid. Incredibly, other skaters look like they are working so hard and moving their arms and legs so fast, and Apolo on the other hand, with his economy of motion, seems almost to be moving in slow motion as he passes them. How does he do that?
+ It’s never too early to plan for next season. According to the ISU, the 2003-04 World Cup schedule to be as follows: -- World Cups #1 and 2 (North America, October 2003) -- World Cups #3 and 4 (Asia/Oceania, Nov-Dec 2003) -- World Cups #5 and 6 (Europe, Feb. 2004)).
Word is that the U.S. World Cup will be held in Marquette, MI. I learned from Stephen Lee, an Australian skater, that World Cups #3 and 4 will be held in Australia and New Zealand (awesome on so many levels). Has anyone heard where in Europe the final 2 Cups will take place?
posted by noelle . |
12:55 PM
Sunday, December 15, 2002
U.S Short Track team, Bormio Italy banquet, 12/8/02 standing, l-r: Kira Fling, Allison Baver, Chris Schroer (trainer), Scott Koons (asst. coach), Brigid Farrell, Caroline Hallisey seated, l-r: Rusty Smith, Apolo Ohno, Shani Davis, Derek Gray missing: head coach Stephen Gough
SECONDI PIATTI CONTINUED: Sunday, December 8, 2002
Sunday was the high point of the weekend with three races – 1000, 3000 and relays – and a great atmosphere in the venue. A busload of Fabio’s friends and family turned out from Torino for the weekend, wearing “Fabio Carta fan club” t-shirts and draping banners over the rails. They even made their own pom-poms to cheer Fabio and the Italian team – it had to have energized the Italian skaters, and helped them sweep the medals on Saturday in the 500. It’s hard for a few American fans to compete with that, but we’ll all make some noise in SLC!
We knew Apolo was still in contention for the overall title that weekend, and he did not disappoint, winning every stage of the 1000, from his preliminary through the final. It was in his 1000 heat (stage 2) that the skater fell in his path and he jumped right over him! As with Derek Gray’s recovery from a near-fall in the relay, Apolo’s Leap definitely deserved extra points! It’s like he added a new degree of difficulty and created a new event on the fly: the 1000-meter hurdles! That was some unforgettable skating.
Leading the pack in the 3000
The 3000 was pretty exciting too. This was the race I was least familiar with and I really didn’t know what to expect. It’s a 27-lap race skated by the top 8 men and top 8 women of the weekend, so there are no heats or semi-finals. Liz reminded me that at Worlds in Montreal Milwaukee, the refs re-started the 3000 at about the halfway mark after deciding the athletes were skating it too slowly! I really enjoyed the race because it’s long and a slower pace, so you have time to study the race more than in other distances. Soon after the race began, one of the Canadians went way out in front as if he were trying to lap the pack. Apolo was calm but stayed at the front of the pack till a Korean passed him and moved out ahead, at which time Apolo picked up the pace of the pack a little. He knew he had to protect his position in this race in order to ensure his overall title for the World Cup. Soon enough, the pack caught up with the leaders (and the Canadian slowed down), at which Apolo time went way out in front for a few laps, and the pattern repeated itself. Eventually, Apolo was passed but maintained his second-place position and won silver in the 3000. Yuki explained that his strategy was to skate more conservatively rather than risk his overall title for a win in the 3000. It definitely paid off!
Apolo goes way out in front during the 3000
After the 3000, Apolo and the rest of the U.S. skaters were finished for the weekend, since neither the men nor women had qualified for the relay finals. I found a moment to approach Apolo and offer my congratulations on his success. I let him know what a thrill it was to watch him skate in person and that I was so happy to see his season off to such a successful start. Apolo was very happy with his results but seems to feel he’s still not in top form, compared to many of his competitors. If that’s true, all I can say is: watch out world!
Takako had a long chat with Japanese skater Satoru Terao on Sunday. He was the source of the news that the Asian teams would not attend World Cups #5 and 6 due to the Asian Winter Games taking place in Japan at that time. It sounds like some of the teams may make it to World Cup #6 after all, but the Asian Winter Games end Feb. 8, the day World Cup #5 ends in SLC.
Another incredible experience to cap our day: the banquet. None of us had expected to attend, but the organizing committee and Yuki Ohno arranged for us to attend as guests. I can’t say enough about Yuki and how generous and helpful he was to all of us that weekend. We sat with Yuki at a table near the U.S. team table. The banquet was a wonderful cap on the weekend’s competition. Each team was introduced in alphabetical order by country, and everyone stood and applauded as the teams were announced and brought to their tables. We were seated next to the U.S. and Great Britain teams. (We all became cult fans of British skater Leon Flack that weekend!)
Many of the skaters dressed up for the banquet and it was hard to recognize anyone in their civilian clothes! We enjoyed a typical, multi-course Italian meal (the model I used for my Bormio reports). The awards ceremony was re-enacted on the podium, where the top five male and female skaters received their ISU award money, and the nicest male and female skaters of the competition were named. You saw the photos and video from this on the Bormio Ghiaccio web site. Yuki was nice enough to introduce us to all the members of the U.S. team and the coaches, too. Everyone was just so nice, friendly and relaxed and it was an unforgettable experience for all of us. You know, in the media pretty much all you hear about are the on-ice rivalries and off-ice animosities, but the short track community is a close-knit one, and everyone seemed friendly and happy to be socializing together. I think they are incredibly lucky to be part of something like this, which is why I’ve decided to come back as a short track speedskater in my next life!
Thanks for visiting OHNO ZONE: Web resources for fans of Apolo Anton Ohno with the latest Ohno news, competition info, photos, appearances and more. Most of our photos,
fan encounters and comments are contributed by visitors. Many thanks to everyone who has contributed so far!
- Todd & Noelle
Comments by: YACCS
