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September 3, 2005
Canadian Trials Results - Day 3 (1000m)
Note: Sunday is a rest day. Competition recommences Monday with the 2nd set of 1500m races.
Results from tonight:
Women's 1000m
heats
No surprises as all the top skaters qualified. Plamondon placed 3rd in heat 2 behind Valerie Gauthier but Gauthier was DQ'ed for kicking out, which was a very questionable call.
semi A
1. Kalyna Roberge
2. Alanna Kraus
3. Annik Plamondon
4. Anouk Leblanc-Boucher
Leblanc-Boucher fell while attempting an outside pass on Kraus with 4 to go. The referees reviewed the race video but no call was made.
semi B
1. Tania Vicent
2. Amanda Overland
3. Melanie Gagnon
4. Raphaele Lemieux
Vicent's time of 1:32.467 was the fastest of the night.
A final
1. Vicent 1:33.213
2. Roberge 1:33.242
3. Overland 1:33.316
4. Kraus 1:33.456
This was the order off the start and there were no passes in the race. Roberge tried moving up the inside a few times in the last couple of laps but Vicent was skating a good defensive track and was pacing the race very well from the front.
B final
1. Leblanc-Boucher
2. Lemieux
3. Plamondon
4. Gagnon
C final
1. Melissa Ieropoli
2. Valerie Gauthier
3. Valerie Lambert
4. Anne Maltais
D final
1. Jessica Gregg
2. Nita Avrith
3. Caroline Truchon
Men's 1000m
heats
Hamelin showed his 1000m form from last season right away in the first heat, leading most of the laps to a fast 1:25.647 in front of Jean and M-A Monette. Heat 2 was very close as well with Tremblay and Giroux getting through ahead of JF Monette.
semi A
1. Steve Robillard
2. Eric Bedard
3. Charles Hamelin ADV
4. Mathieu Turcotte DQ
Turcotte tried going by Hamelin on the inside with 3 to go. There was contact and Hamelin dropped back to 4th. After a lengthy review of the video, Turcotte was disqualified and Hamelin advanced.
semi B
1. Francois-Louis Tremblay
2. Jonathan Guilmette
3. Mathieu Giroux
4. Olivier Jean
A Final
1. Hamelin 1:25.217
2. Robillard 1:25.388
3. Tremblay 1:25.521
4. Bedard 1:25.572
5. Guilmette 1:25.602
The final was a very exciting race controlled by Hamelin and Bedard. Hamelin grabbed the lead from start position 4 with Bedard sitting 2nd, Tremblay 3rd, Guilmette 4th and Robillard 5th. Bedard went to the front with 7 to go. At the back of the pack, Robillard was able to slip ahead of Guilmette into 4th. With about 5 to go, Hamelin retook the lead. Robillard was also able to move into 3rd as well. The race positions went unchanged until the final lap when the fast pace took its toll on Bedard, who started to lost touch with Hamelin. The other 3 skaters were all looking for space to make a move and it was Robillard who was able to go around Bedard by the outside on the last straight. Exiting the final turn Tremblay and Guilmette both came up the inside of Bedard. Tremblay managed to get his skate to the line first and take 3rd place.
B Final
1. Turcotte
2. Giroux
3. Jean
C final
1. Jean-Francois Monette
2 Marc-Andre Monette
3. Daryl Rasmussen
4. Cory Rasmussen
2 sets of brothers in this race.
D final
1. Remi Beaulieu
2. Nathaniel Therrien
3. Richard Shoebridge
Posted by noelle at 11:14 PM | Comments (5)
September 2, 2005
Canadian Trials Results - Day 2 (500m)
Here are results from tonight's 500m races. Looks like the race showed its tendency to generate crashes, with a couple of skaters (Chantale Sevigny and Jeff Scholten) unfortunately sustaining injuries.
[Update 1] Very sorry to have to report that Jeff Scholten's trials are over as his collarbone is broken. What makes this an even tougher pill to swallow is that at the 2002 Olympic trials, he broke his ankle during his very first 1500m and was also forced to pull out.
[Update 2] TSN.ca | Turcotte on track at Olympic trials
[Update 3] Unfortunately, Chantale Sevigny is also out of the competition, due to the leg cut she sustained earlier.
Women
Heats
The only minor surprise was Vicent placing 3rd in her heat behind Kraus and Plamondon. Also, Sevigny and Gagnon fell together in heat 2 causing the race to be restarted. Sevigny sustained a minor cut around the knee and did not compete the rest of the evening. No report on the severity of the cut but she was able to leave the ice unassisted.
Semi A
1. Roberge
2. Gregg
3. Gagnon
4. Maltais
Semi B
1. Leblanc-Boucher
2. Kraus
3. Overland
4. Plamondon
Final A
1. Roberge 44.368
2. Kraus 44.682
3. Gregg 44.683
4. Leblanc-Boucher 45.332
Jessica Gregg`s excellent start served her very well this evening as she was able to take the lead in every race. Leblanc-Boucher was 2nd off the line and managed to pass Gregg but had a major slip which dropped her to 4th exiting the corner. Roberge slid up the inside to take the lead at the same time (with 2 to go) and cruised in for the win in a very fast time of 44.368. Kraus snuck inside of Gregg at the finish to grab 2nd by the narrowest of margins. Very impressive skating from the 500m gold and bronze medalists from last year`s Jr. Worlds.
Final B
1. Overland
2. Plamondon
3. Gagnon
4. Maltais
Overland skated most of this race on the outside, taking the lead with 1-1.5 to go.
Final C
1. Vicent
2. Lambert
3. Gauthier
4. Ieropoli
Final D
1. Lemieux
2. Avrith
3. Truchon
4. Sevigny DNS
Men
heats
In heat 1, Hamelin was sitting 3rd behind Scholten and D. Rasmussen with 1 to go when he was taken down by MA Monette. He was advance to the semis. In heat 4, both Jean and Robillard fell on different laps. The fastest time of the night was from heat 1 - Jeff Scholten 41.766
semi A
1. Turcotte
2. Shoebridge
3. Tremblay ADV
4. Scholten DQ
Tremblay had the lead of the start. With 2.5 to go Turcotte was able to make a close pass to take the lead. A lap later Scholten tried to sneak into 2nd but the pass was too close and both skaters wound up falling. It was a very hard crash and both skaters were together when they hit the pads. Tremblay was ok but Scholten was not so fortunate, as it is suspected that he broke his collarbone.
semi B
1. Bedard
2. Guilmette
3. JF Monette
4. Hamelin
5. D. Rasmussen
Monette had the lead off the start but was passed by Bedard mid-race. Hamelin tried to pass Monette on the outside on the last corner and they bumped a little, allowing Guilmette to sneak into 2nd at the line by shooting up the inside.
Final A
1. Turcotte 42.212 start position 4
2. Tremblay 42.288 3
3. Bedard 42.290 2
4. Guilmette 42.442 5
5. Shoebridge 42.584 1
Bedard used his quick start to take the lead at the first corner, with Tremblay 2, Shoebridge 3, Turcotte 4 and Guilmette 5. Turcotte tried moving up the inside on the first straight and entered the 2nd corner along side Tremblay, who retook 2nd immediately. With 2.5 to go Tremblay attempted to pass Bedard on the inside but had to back off as Bedard was skating a good defensive track. As a result, Tremblay lost a little bit of speed and Turcotte was able to pass him on the inside to take 2nd place. The last lap was very similar to the 500m final from the Salt Lake City Olympics. Turcotte made a strong yet very close pass on Bedard on the last straight and Tremblay was able to come up the inside exiting the last turn and grab 2nd by 0.002
Final B
1. Hamelin
2. Monette
3. D. Rasmussen
4. Scholten DNS
Final C
1. Robillard
2. Jean
3. Giroux
4. Therrien
Final D
1. M-A Monette
2. Beaulieu
3. C. Rasmussen
Posted by noelle at 11:26 PM | Comments (9)
Canadian trials day 2 - 500m start lists
Here are tonight's heats. The skaters are listed by start position (1 to 4) -- click the continuation link to see the heat lists.
Women
heat 1
Maltais
Lemieux
Iéropoli
Roberge
heat 2
Sevigny
Gregg
Gagnon
Avrith
heat 3
Truchon
Vicent
Kraus
Plamondon
heat 4
Overland
Lambert
Gauthier
Leblanc-Boucher
Men
heat 1
Scholten
D. Rasmussen
M-A Monette
Hamelin
heat 2
C. Rasmussen
JF Monette
Giroux
Tremblay
heat 3
Guilmette
Bedard
Beaulieu
Therrien
heat 4
Shoebridge
Jean
Turcotte
Robillard
Posted by noelle at 6:58 PM | Comments (0)
September 1, 2005
Canadian Trials Results - Day 1 (1500m)
[Update] SLAM! Sports | Guilmette, Leblanc-Boucher win opening trials
Here`s the scoop from today:
Women
1500m A final
1. Anouk Leblanc-Boucher 2:26.712
2. Tania Vicent 2:27.214
3. Chantale Sevigny 2:27.423
4. Amanda Overland
6. Kalyna Roberge DQ
6. Alanna Kraus DQ
Roberge and Overland fell in the straight with 8 laps to go. Roberge was able to catch up to the pack with 5 to go. Leblanc-Boucher was leading the last few laps with Vicent sitting 2nd, Kraus 3rd, Roberge 4th and Sevigny 5th. Entering the last corner Kraus attempted an outside pass on Vicent which caused her to stumble. Kraus stayed on the outside and made it around Leblanc-Boucher to cross the line first. L-Boucher was 2nd. Roberge took advantage of Vicent`s stumble to sneak into 3rd. The two DQs knocked Kraus and Roberge out of 1st and 3rd respectively.
1500m B final
1. Annik Plamondon
2. Anne Maltais
3. Melanie Gagnon
4. Melissa Ieropoli
5. Valerie Gauthier
6. Nita Avrith DQ
1500m C final
1. Raph Lemieux (won her heat but was dq)
2. Jessica Gregg
3. Valerie Lambert
4. Caroline Truchon
Men
semis were relatively tame though fast - Turcotte 2:13 in semi 2. The 3rd semi was the toughest with Tremblay, Robillard,Jean, Scholten, D. Rasmussen and Richard Shoebridge
1500m A final
1. Jo Guilmette 2:14.417
2. Mathieu Turcotte 2:14.454
3. Francois-Louis Tremblay 2:14.500
4. Charles Hamelin
5. Eric Bedard
6. Steve Robillard
Guilmette took the lead off the start only to give it up to Robillard for a few laps. With 8 or 9 laps to go he retook the lead, with Robillard in 2nd. There was a bit of jockeying for position behind the 2 of them as Turcotte and Hamelin were readying their attack. Turcotte was able to slide around Tremblay by the outside to get into 3rd with about 4 to go. Nothing changed at the front as the pace quickened dramatically in the last couple of laps. Entering the 2nd to last corner (after the bell) Robillard fell on his own and out of 2nd place. There was a bit of a scramble for position down the last straight but the race positions did not change. A very,very strong race by Guilmette.
B final
1. Olivier Jean
2. Mathieu Giroux
3. JF Monette
4. Remi Beaulieu
5. Jeff Scholten
6. MA Monette
Scholten was sitting 3rd with 1.5 to go when he had a major slip which nearly made him fall. Unfortunately for Marc-Andre Monette, he was a little too close to Scholten and did go down.
C final
1. Daryl Rasmussen
2. Richard Shoebridge
3. Cory Rasmussen
4. Nathaniel Therrien DQ ( the only DQ today in the men`s races) * it might have been Shoebridge DQ and Therrien 2 not 100% on that.
Posted by noelle at 11:21 PM | Comments (8)
Canadian Olympic Trials
Canada's Olympic team selection gets underway this evening in Saguenay and concludes Sept. 11. Some anxious fans have been asking where they can find results. I'm happy to say that one of our Canadian connections will be reporting in after competition ends each evening. It is a holiday weekend in America and I will be traveling, but will do my best to get results online as quickly as I can.
Canada's trials are limited to 16 men and 16 women (participants' list here). This is gonna be a helluva meet and I wish all the Canadian skaters the best!
Check Speed Skating Canada for complete results.
P.S. U.S. Olympic team trials aren't till December. For anyone interested in the nitty-gritty, you can download the selection procedures from the USS site.
Posted by noelle at 12:47 PM | Comments (2)
2006 World Championships in Minneapolis
A notice in today's Minneapolis Star-Tribune:
World's top short-track speedskaters coming to Mariucci Arena
The World Short Track Speedskating Championships will be held in Minneapolis next year only weeks after the rough-and-tumble sport gets its quadrennial place in the spotlight during the Winter Olympics.
The event -- bringing together more than 200 of the world's best skaters from about 30 nations -- will be held at Mariucci Arena from March 31 to April 2, a month after the Winter Games conclude in Turin, Italy.
"We're planning on the United States doing well in Turin," U.S. Speedskating Executive Director Katie Marquard said. "This means people will be able to see the Olympic competition in Minnesota."
U.S. skater Apolo Ohno, who won two medals at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, is among stars expected at the event. Maplewood's Amy Peterson, a five-time Olympian and nine-time U.S. champ who is making a comeback for Turin, is hoping to complete her career at the World Championships.
The Detroit Free-Press has a writeup on Amy Peterson as well here:
Michigan athletes yearning for Turin (scroll to bottom)
Posted by noelle at 8:32 AM | Comments (4)
August 30, 2005
Video clip: Post-race interview
Here's Apolo's follow-up interview after winning the 500m A final at the U.S. Championships in Milwaukee, discussing the difference between skating in national and international competitions.
Thanks to Moz for the footage, and Maggie doubles up on hosting and editing this one!
Posted by noelle at 6:00 PM | Comments (7)