Ohno Zone

« January 22, 2006 - January 28, 2006 | Main | February 5, 2006 - February 11, 2006 »

February 4, 2006

Media roundup [updated 2/6]

Bay City Times | U.S. gold-medal hopes in speedskating rest with Ohno

Denver Post | The ones left behind
How does an athlete who didn't make the team handle watching the Olympics on TV? If you're Bridie Farrell, you go to Cornell!

OC Register | Turin races against time (quotes Torino native Fabio Carta)

Montreal Gazette | Canadians target golden triple on short track

CP | Roberge knew she had to leave home to pursue dream

Sunday Times | The dashing Blade (on Britain's Jon Eley)

Reuters | China and Korea greedy for short track gold

Sunday Times | Winter Olympics: Land of the freaks

NBCOlympics.com | Dan Weinstein profile

Miami Herald | America's best high rollers

St Petersburg Times | Florida speedskater can't hide from Cosmo's eye

Marquette Mining Journal | Pride of the U.P.: Olympic athletes from NMU/USOEC

Philadelphia Inquirer | Games to dish up soap opera with sport

Palm Beach Post | Oh No! It's the soul patch!

AskMen.com | Top 10: 2006 Olympic Events Not To Miss

Posted by noelle at 4:00 PM | Comments (6)

More photos from Lake Placid

Many thanks to Rosalie for sharing these great shots she got of U.S. and Canadian skaters earlier this week in Lake Placid! See the whole gallery: Faces in Lake Placid

Apolo Ohno with a nice smile for Rosalie!

Travis Jayner and Alex Izykowski

Kaylna Roberge and Jonathan Guilmette

Posted by noelle at 3:25 PM | Comments (11)

Yuki has a blog!

Yuki Ohno is writing a blog called Access Apolo for NBCOlympics.com. The first entry "He is just so busy" discusses how busy Apolo's preparations for Torino, and the Italian media and fans' reaction to Apolo. Read Access Apolo

I've added Access Apolo to the Links section on the sidebar.

(Thanks to Deb for the link!)

Posted by noelle at 2:38 PM | Comments (14)

Free download of Flipsyde's 'Someday' video

The folks behind the band Flipsyde's Olympic video want to let OZ fans know that the 'Someday' video is available to download FREE from iTunes.*

In addition, here's a link to watch the video that NBC has been playing as part of its Winter Olympics promotions. I know I've seen this on NBC a couple times so far at least!

Note: In order to download anything from iTunes you need to have an iTunes account, which means they need to have a credit card on record. There is however no charge against the credit card and the video is free.

Posted by noelle at 9:49 AM | Comments (3)

February 3, 2006

Short track Olympic prediction pool

There's a new site called Speed-Skating.net covering all aspects of the sport. They want to let OZ readers know they're running a pool where you can submit your predictions for who will medal in Torino with prizes for winners. I'm still working on mine -- too many good skaters chasing not enough medals! Enter your picks by Feb. 9. More info

Two interviews of interest for short track fans:
Maria Garcia, on the road of Torino
Yang Yang , the queen of short track speed skating

Posted by noelle at 2:11 PM | Comments (1)

Latest media roundup

St Louis Post-Dispatch | Chasing a chance: Kepka part of U.S. relay team

Four years boiled down to one race that typically takes just over seven minutes to complete. Four years, seven minutes and a sport that is part speed, part roller derby. This is a sport where the smallest misstep can cost you precious time, or worse, send you crashing into the wall.

Bay City Times | Bay City has earned a gold medal in Olympic generosity

There was no way on God's green earth that the people of this town were going to let Joann, Al and Morgan Izykowski stay at home and watch Alex - Izy to his fans - on TV, a half a world away.

Gannett News | Sensational Ohno, Hedrick carry U.S. speedskating hopes

"I'm going to be an Olympic champion for the rest of my life," said Apolo Ohno, currently ranked third in the world overall behind two South Koreans, Ahn Hyun-soo and Lee Ho-suk. "Nobody can ever take that away from me, and I think about it every day. And, you know, I've been ranked No. 1 consistently for the past four years, and I think I've proven I have the capability to be on the top of that podium."

AP | Dozens of Olympic Web Sites Cheer Athletes

Dozens of Olympic-related fan sites have been established for everyone from outspoken Alpine skier Bode Miller www.fans.bodelicious.net to speedskater Apolo Anton Ohno www.apoloportal.net and www.ohnozone.net, and many athletes have their own personal sites, too — such as Miller's www.bodemillerusa.com and Ohno's www.apoloantonohno.com.

Marquette Mining Journal | USOEC skaters go for the gold

Kimberly Derrick will compete in the 1,000-meters and Anthony Lobello in the 500 on Feb. 22. If they advance to the finals, they will next skate Saturday, Feb. 25. Both skaters may also have the opportunity skate as part of the U.S. relay team.

The Oregonian | Speedskater makes herself at home on U.S. ice

The [U.S.] skaters were protective. But they also had in Hyo-jung Kim someone to study -- a skater who had grown up in the South Korean regime.

Rusty Smith watched Kim's technique and stride. "I'm 26 and Halie's 17 and my coach says, 'Go skate behind Halie,' " he said. "It's like, OK. It's not just a 17-year-old girl, but it's someone who I can learn from.

Noticias.info | Steven Bradbury’s Tale

Short Track Speed Skating is a young Olympic sport but it already boasts, in its personal champions’ gallery, some athletes who have left a mark thanks to their competitive feats and much more. One of these is undoubtedly the Australian Steven Bradbury. Now he is not competing anymore but still holds a special place in the eyes and hearts of his fans thanks to the Olympic gold medal won in the 1,000 m at Salt Lake City in 2002. On that occasion, it was much more than a sports success.

Posted by noelle at 2:05 PM | Comments (2)

February 2, 2006

Dramatic new photo from Sports Illustrated

Wow - looks at this incredible shot. It's what greets you on the first page of SI's Olympics coverage in the current issue (look for their Olympic preview issue with Alpine skiers on the cover). Thanks to Sue for scanning and sending it in for us!

click to enlarge

Posted by noelle at 9:47 PM | Comments (24)

Lake Placid report & photos from Alex Strauss

Alex was in attendance this week in Lake Placid and as promised, he provided loads of photos and commentary, which follow:

1500 A final Men: 1. Ohno, 2. Turcotte, 3. Hamelin
1500 A final Women: 1. Halie, 2. Can, 3. Can

Both finals were pretty weird. Both had a crew of 5 Canadians and only one American to take them on. But the best part is the lone American competitors won both the men's and the women's finals!!!! (Note: Halie was DQ'ed later after finishing 1st in the women's final.)

Olivier Jean, Apolo Ohno, Charles Hamelin, Mathieu Turcotte

Amanda Overland leading Anouk Leblanc-Boucher, Kalyna Roberge and Halie Kim

500 A Final Men: 1. Hamelin, 2. Flou, 3. Ohno
500 A Final Women: 1. Can, 2. Can, 3. USA

The men's final was crazy, in the middle of the race Bedard tried to make a move, slipped and almost took out Apolo, this then left the two remaining Canadians to race it out, but rather than relax and do nothing, Hamelin and Flou raced it out hard and still gave the crowd a show.

1000M A final Men: 1. Oliver Jean, 2. Robillard, 3. Ohno, 4. Guilmette
1000M A final women: 1.Halie, 2. Can, 3. Can

On the women's side, Halie put together a good win, with lots of passing and a good fast pace, something rarely seen in the women's events. The men’s final was nice as well, Olivier Jean took the lead with about 3 laps to go and picked up the pace so no one could make any moves and took home the win for Canada.

Jean was really blazing out there this whole comp. Regardless of the fact that he has a lot less to lose by falling or getting hurt (cuz he’s not going to Italy) he still showed that he can skate with the best in the world and give them a run for their money!!!

An honorable mention in this event would be Travis Jayner, who made it through a tough tough heat and got taken out in a messy fall in the semis. I know it sucks man but the Gravy Train keeps on rollin, you’ll get em later!!

The Gravy Train!

Women's relay Final: 1. USA, 2. CAN, 3. USA
Men's relay Final: 1. CAN(White), 2. CAN (Red), 3. USA (A team), 4. USA

In a hotly contested final with tons of passing, the USA women took home the gold in the relay and showed everyone that they're ready for Italy. The guys' race seemed to be tight between the 2 Canadian teams, USA put up a good fight and held on for most of the race but fell off later in the race when Canada stepped it up with the White team lead by Flou taking the win.

Posted by noelle at 1:20 PM | Comments (6)

Lake Placid photos [updated]

Many thanks to Alex Strauss for sending a bunch of photos from the event and Lake Placid. To see all his photos from Lake Placid, check out the gallery.

Hi Alex! (Alex on right with a fellow Saratoga Springs skater)

Olivier Jean, Apolo Ohno, Mathieu Turcotte, Remi Beaulieu in the heatbox

USA men warming up

Great closeup of Mathieu Turcotte leading Rusty Smith and Steve Robillard

Posted by noelle at 5:49 AM | Comments (14)

February 1, 2006

Lake Placid day 2 by Junko [updated 2/2]

Junko checks in with this report:

I guess it didn't matter who won the race because practically nobody DQed, especially true in today's 1000m. Yesterday Charles Hamelin suddenly quit skating in the middle of 500m because I guess Eric Bedard's blade intercepted Charles' and he slipped and skidded after that. Ice seemed thick in one area (maybe more than one areas). Some other skaters quit skating in yesterday's races too. In a real competition, that's unthinkable.

Today we had 1000m and relays again. Lots of skaters slipped and fell at one corner today. Travis Jayner had a few nasty falls and so did Jordan Malone.

Olivier Jean skated fast! He looked happy to skate and participate in the event. Jonathan Guilmette was strong!

If I am not mistaken women's 1000m A final was 1. Anouk Leblanc-Boucher, 2.Allison Baver 3.Tania Vicent, 3.Raphaele Lemieux. (I marked 1 and 2 but 3 and 4, I am not sure.)

Men's 1000m A is 1. Jean, 2. Steve Robillard, 3. Apolo Ohno, 4, Guilmette. I assessed that skaters who will go to Olympics don't want to damage their blades. Apolo slipped a little too. Bad ice! They could be more competitive but they didn't.

[Thurs. morning update from Junko]

Roberge opted not to skate this time, so yesterday's B final for women had only three skaters. So the semi as well as heat before had three skaters in certain group. I don't know who skated for her for the relay. When I first saw Anouk compete in their trials a few years ago, she was petite and short dark hair with red accent. She is now taller, so that bigger, with long blond hair. Melanie also changed her hair color to dark brown for now. Olivier has dreadlocks as ever.

Apolo signs an autograph for the man who said he was 28. Must have meant the helmet number!

Rusty took the wrong lane. He was requested by the starter to move back to his correct positioning. Steve with helmet 25, Jeff Simon with 35, next to Apolo, Rusty in action with helmet 2(0) Charles? and first lane was Remi?

Thanks so much Junko for the photos and tidbits!

Posted by noelle at 11:10 PM | Comments (9)

Satoru Terao article

I know we have at least a couple big Satoru fans out there!

Kyodo News | Last chance for Terao to shine in short track

"Terao has indicated his races in Turin may mark the end of his Olympic career. And he desperately wants a medal in a sport filled with mid-race accidents after a nasty tumble and a dubious disqualification dashed his hopes in the past."

Posted by noelle at 9:45 PM | Comments (8)

Lake Placid photos

Thanks to Junko for sending these in! Junko reports:

"Athletes are almost all relaxed and laid back as well as all officials. Me too. And as you can tell by the photos, there weren't too many spectators this evening. The atmosphere was yet warm and friendly.

I spent most of the evening when down time talking to a super nice gentleman sitting next to me. Oh, one incident: That gentleman asked how old Apolo was and I told him he was 23. Some guy said he was 28. I said, "No, he is 23 years old." A woman behind me said, "No, Apolo is 28 and I know he is 28". She was insistent. I didn't quit yet and said one more time, "No, he is 23." The nice gentleman commented smiling, "She said 28, now do you agree with her?" I had to reply, "No, I don't. Apolo was born in 1982, he cannot be 28." I was insistent too."

Those spectators obviously don't know who they're dealing with!

1500m A final: Jonathan Guilmette, Mathieu Turcotte, Olivier Jean, Apolo Ohno, Charles Hamelin, Remi Beaulieu

1500m B final: Maria Garcia, Cherise Wilkins, Kimberly Derrick, Tina Koenig, Allison Baver, Caroline Hallisey, Sarah Lang

Men's 1500m: Apart from Robillard, Turcotte and Ohno - not sure who's who

500m: JP Kepka, Apolo Ohno, Francois Louis-Tremblay, Olivier Jean

Posted by noelle at 4:51 PM | Comments (24)

Lake Placid day 1

The USA vs. Canada tuneup competition began yesterday in Lake Placid with 1500m and 500m races.

Kalyna Roberge won the women's 1500m A final ahead of four teammates, including Olympians Tania Vicent in 2nd and Amanda Overland in 3rd. The only American in the race, Hyo-jung Kim, who will skate the 1500m in Torino, was disqualified. Allison Baver, who will also skate the 1500n in Torino, won the 1500m B final.

Apolo Ohno, representing the USA in the 1500m in Torino, won the men's 1500m A final ahead of a passel of Canadian men. Rusty Smith won the B final. Alex Izykowski, the other U.S. 1500m skater in Torino, did not finish. There were an unusual number of DNFs last night.

Canadian Olympian Anouk Leblanc-Boucher won the womens 500m A final with Baver, who will skate this distance in Torino, 2nd. Halie Kim isn't listed in the 500m results.

A pair of Canadians -- Olympians Charles Hamelin and Francois Louis-Tremblay -- tied for 1st in the men's 500m A final with a time of 43.25. Ohno was 3rd in 1:17.73 -- looks like he may have gotten knocked down by Eric Bedard, who was disqualified.

See complete results; photos from Junko are coming!

Posted by noelle at 9:56 AM | Comments (14)

January 31, 2006

News of the day

Bay City Times | Gold medal in giving Bay City community raises $30,000, punches tickets to the Olympics for family of speedskater

The signs say ''Go Izy.'' Now you can add ''... and family.''

(Thanks to Trisha for the link!)

NBC Olympics.com | The six keys to Apolo Anton Ohno's success

Contains quotes from Yuki Ohno, John Schaeffer, Derrick Campbell, J.P. Kepka and Francois-Louis Tremblay on the attributes that make Apolo great!

(Thanks to Sue for the heads-up!)

Boston Globe | Making a name for herself

Until last winter, nobody on this side of the Pacific had ever heard of the shy teenager who turned up in Colorado Springs barely able to put together three sentences in English. But after Halie Kim won every event at the US championships and began slipping into finals at World Cup events, she quickly made it onto the global radar screen.

Seattle Times | Unwrapping the Athletes Village — something for everyone

Kelly Stephens expects it to be something like "Christmas." Apolo Ohno insists it's really not as much of a major hookup spot as we've been led to believe. And the rest of us, not surprisingly, will never get anywhere near it without a mountain of security clearances and several disapproving Aunt Bee escorts.

But he's heard the tales, as well, he says, responding with some feigned indignation. "I'm like, 'What? Are you kidding me? These guys are respectable athletes!' "

"Maybe it's the summer athletes, not the winter athletes," he says, laughing. "I might look into this some more once I get over there."

Posted by noelle at 10:14 AM | Comments (15)

January 30, 2006

Quebec Elite Circuit #3

This past weekend three Americans competed in Montreal: Travis Jayner, Jordan Malone and Ryan Bedford. Travis won his division by sweeping the 1500m, 500m and 1000m A finals. He also finished 3rd in the 3000m. Way to go Gervais!

Jordan was 3rd overall, winning the 500m B final and 2nd in the 1000m A final. Ryan finished 5th overall in their division with a win of the 1000m B final and 2nd in the 3000m A final. Congrats, guys! (Caveat - this is based on my shaky interpretation of the official results.)

The Americans were segregated in the 2nd division of skaters, reportedly so they wouldn't 'interfere with the Canadian skaters' standings.' Sounds dodgy to me, but what do I know!

By the way, Jordan and Ryan are spending the next weeks while most of their coaches and teammates are in Italy training with the Montral-International club, which is also Travis's home club when he's in Montreal. Jordan and Travis will continue on to Lake Placid for this week's USA-Canada showdown.

Posted by noelle at 7:44 PM | Comments (6)

Belltown Messenger | Belltown-raised skater goes for Gold again

Apolo Ohno currently lives and works at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs. It is his eighth year there. "You're not a superstar there. You're not different inside the complex; you're just another individual shooting every four years for the Games. No matter how famous you are, you are just one of many."

The Training Center is sort of a magnet facility for Olympic hopefuls. It feels very far from Belltown.

This is a neat article from the Seattle neighborhood where Yuki's Diffusion is located! You can learn about that neighborhood and how it and hair styles have changed over the years since Yuki Ohno has done business there.

Posted by noelle at 6:01 PM | Comments (3)

News from up north

London Free Press | One-track mind

Francois-Louis Tremblay flies under the radar compared to his teammates. And yet, he came closer to winning the World Championships (last year in Beijing) than any Canadian male has since Marc Gagnon. Anyway, this article in an Ontario newspaper talks about his Olympic experiences in 2002 and 2006 and predicts 2 medals for him in Torino.

Also, as McDonalds sponsors Apolo here at home, McDonald's of Canada is sponsoring three Canadian short trackers aiming for Vancouver 2010: Guillaume Bastille, Kalyna Roberge and Charles Hamelin. Roberge and Hamelin will of course also compete in Torino. You can see their profiles on the McDonalds 2010 web site.

Posted by noelle at 4:58 PM | Comments (0)

January 29, 2006

The latest media roundup [updated 1/30]

MetroWest Daily News | Natick family faces Olympic Games for third time
Article on Caroline Hallisey

'Dubbel Davis' documentary
Dutch TV did a really cool documentary this season on Shani Davis. You can watch the full 45 minutes online. While the narration is in Dutch, much of the documentary is dialog and obviously that is all in English. For those who were in Marquette, there are quite a few scenes from there as well. Check it out here.
(Click on 'NOS Winterspelen deel 5: 'Dubbel Davis'' at right)

Newsweek | Medal Rivalry (APOLO ANTON OHNO VS. AHN HYUN-SOO)

Apolo Ohno, the American short-track speed-skating dynamo, says it's all water under the bridge. Ahn Hyun-soo, the South Korean world champion, says he wishes he and Ohno could be friends. Sounds sweet, doesn't it? Off the ice, the planet's top two short-trackers talk a diplomatic game, hoping to put some distance between them and their epic, controversial races at the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics, when Ohno won a disputed gold medal after another Korean skater was disqualified—and Ahn didn't win anything but a "thank you for playing" ribbon. No matter what they say, though, the rivalry between Ohno and Ahn promises to be one of Torino's most explosive story lines—and the most unpredictable. Back in 2002, the two racers were involved in a four-person, final-lap wipeout that left only one man standing. Short track, says Ohno, is "basically human NASCAR." Anything can, and usually does, happen. So while Ohno and Ahn will be the cofavorites, don't be surprised if an interloper — such as Canadian speedster Mathieu Turcotte — sneaks in and steals their glory.

Bay City Times | Relay could be Izy's best bet

Derrick Campbell said the relay team [members] won't be announced until the Olympics are under way because of the possibility of injuries or illnesses and because there are five guys vying for just four spots.

Posted by noelle at 5:16 PM | Comments (11)