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June 16, 2005
Bosideng ISU World Cup schedule for 2005-06 season
The ISU has posted this fall's world cup schedule. Due to the Olympic year, there are only 4 World Cups this season (none in North America). Also, one of them will take place in South Korea:
World Cup #1: Nanjing, CHN Sept 29-Oct 1
World Cup #2: Gangneung City, KOR Oct 7-9
World Cup #3: Bormio, ITA Nov 11-13
World Cup #4: The Hague, NED Nov 18-20
No word on the U.S. team's plans in light of awarding the 2nd World Cup to Korea.
World Cups 3 and 4 are crucial because they serve as Olympic qualifiers on the national level. Results from Bormio and The Hague will determine which countries will compete in each distance in Torino (including how many skaters per country per distance), as well as which seven countries will join Olympic host Italy in the men's and women's relays.
A maximum of 32 skaters may compete in each distance in Torino, and eight teams in the relay -- so there is a lot at stake!
It's important to remember, individual athletes compete to earn a spot on the U.S. Olympic team at the Olympic trials in Marquette in December. At World Cups 3 and 4, national federations (technically, national Olympic committees) earn the right to send short track teams to compete in the Games based on results at the World Cup qualifiers.
Speed Skating Canada has an excellent primer on how the Olympic qualification process will work at these two European World Cups. See Qualification System for XX Winter Olympic Games, Torino 2006 (PDF document). Additional info is here.
Update: Oooh, lookie -- Bormio Ghiaccio already has an official poster and everything!
Posted by noelle at 2:35 PM | Comments (8)
June 14, 2005
New Video: Apolo's 1000m heat in Beijing
Here's the latest installment from Beijing -- it's a nice, uneventful race with most of the action in the final 2 laps, when Nishitani and Ohno make their moves. Thanks to Sonia and Maggie!
Skaters in the race: Takafumi Nishitani (JPN), Apolo Ohno, Cees Juffermans (NED), Peter Darazs (HUN)
Posted by noelle at 10:16 PM | Comments (5)