Ohno Zone: February 5, 2006 - February 11, 2006 Archives

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February 11, 2006

Media roundup

New York Times | Ohno Hoping for Victories, and Thaw in Icy Relations With South Koreans
From the way this is being hyped, you'd think Apolo hadn't skated against Koreans since Salt Lake!

The bad blood from Salt Lake City does not appear to be coloring the South Koreans' pre-Olympics coverage. Melissa Scott, the United States press officer for short-track speedskating, said Thursday that she had not received a single request from a South Korean journalist to interview Ohno here.

Sung Jin Hyuk, a sportswriter for the Chosun Ilbo, a Korean daily, said he would mention the 2002 controversy in his story advancing Sunday's race, but did not plan to dwell on it.

"I think most people almost have forgotten about it," he said. "It may have just died down temporarily. If something happens again, it will reignite the controversy."

It is Ohno's personality, more than his precision, that is Sung's focus. In particular, he said he was struck by Ohno's humility during the World Cup event in Seoul.

"That's what I'm trying to write, that kind of story," he said. "But I have to be very cautious. People might give me death threats, too."

He laughed. "I'm just kidding," he said, his broad smile a beacon for those hoping there will be no crying foul at these Games.

Is he, I wonder?

Minneapolis Star Tribune | Thoughtful, low-key Ohno seeks to defend gold

Salt Lake Tribune | Ohno, Korean to continue rivalry
Fun facts: Fabio Carta's parents got married on skates, and his mamma is a volunteer at the Palavela.

VOA News | Chinese Woman Coaches US Short Track Skaters

Tallahassee Democrat | Lobello part of skaters' fraternity
Very interesting article about team dynamics in an essentially individual sport!
Tallahassee Democrat | Olympian gets goodies from home

Detroit Times | Bay City native suited for short track

Bay City Times | Pioneer paved way for Izy's road to glory
Bay City Times | Training pushes Izy beyond limits

Posted by noelle at 10:53 PM | Comments (0)

Start lists are up!

Short track competition gets underway Sunday with the men's 1500m qualifying and final plus women's 500m heats and relay semis. The initial starts lists have been posted. Full lists available at Torino2006.org.

The OZ chat room is open for the Olympics! For the first time in OZ history you can actually SEE the races while you're in the chat...

USA Today | Ohno focused, prepared in push for multiple medals

Men's 1500m heats - start time 7:30PM Torino time
Alex Izykowski, who has helmet #251, skates in heat 5 where he faces a pretty tough field:
1 MATTEI Jean Charles France
2 LI JiaJun China
3 HEUNG Tyson Germany
4 HAMELIN Charles Canada
5 IZYKOWSKI Alex USA

Apolo Ohno, helmet #254, has a better seeding in heat 6:
1 KERSTHOLT Niels Netherlands
2 KNOCH Viktor Hungary
3 UZAK Matus Slovakia
4 OHNO Apolo Anton USA
5 SUEYOSHI Hayato Japan

Mathieu Turcotte also skates for Canada in heat 1. The 1500m semis are scheduled to resume at 8:54PM Torino time and the finals are scheduled for 9:53pm Torino time.

Women's 500m finals - start time 8:15pm Torino time
Hyo-jung Kim will be in heat 10. She has helmet #155:
1 KIM Hyo-Jung USA
2 LEBLANC-BOUCHER Anouk CAN
3 BOUVIER Stephanie FRA
4 KLEIN Aika GER

Allison Baver (helmet #151) has a very reasonable draw in heat 12:
1 HUSZAR Erika HUN
2 YUN Jong Suk PRK
3 BAVER Allison USA
4 HAN Yueshuang HKG

The Canadians qualified 3 women for the 500m. Alanna Kraus skates in heat 2 and Kalyna Roberge in heat 13.

Women's relay - start time 8:56PM Torino time
USA and Canada are in the same semifinal along with China and Japan. The skaters who will compete in the relay have not yet been announced.

Posted by noelle at 5:32 PM | Comments (17)

Apolo receiving personal medical care in Torino

Torino Tracker | Apolo taking every precaution

Apolo was being treated by his personal physician, Dr. Lawrence Levine, who flew in from Tacoma, Wash., to assist Apolo on his gold-medal quest. Formerly a general practitioner, Dr. Levine is now an osteopathic doctor. He is here in Torino to help direct - manually not surgically - Apolo's natural healing energies. Apolo has lingering pain from hip and ankle problems and he's trying everything he can to win gold here at the Olympic Games. Levine was also Apolo's doctor in Salt Lake City.

Apolo Anton Ohno of the U.S. signs autographs for fans during training at the Palavela, February 11, 2006. REUTERS/Lee Jae-Won

Posted by noelle at 10:56 AM | Comments (17)

February 10, 2006

Strategically timed bombshells from Derek Gray [updated]

Muskegon (MI) Chronicle | Future Olympic hopeful paints frustrating picture

Coaches and U.S. officials bend over backwards if your name is Apollo Ohno, America's darling of short-track speedskating. "I didn't develop my child to skate for Apollo," said Nan [Gray], who enrolled her son in his first speedskating competition at age 5. "The coaches are so busy falling all over Apollo, they have no time for anyone else."

[Derek Gray] has sat idly by as a talented speedskater from Ohio who was forced to give up her spot on the women's team after a very controversial disqualification. She was replaced by a Hispanic skater, causing many of the men and women in the sport to believe that the competition was rigged to promote diversity.

Wow. Best of luck to Derek, I think he's going to need it.
[update] Please read the comments section for Derek's clarification of the article and remarks from his dad as well.

While the whole article seems unfortunate to me, I take Derek at his word that he spoke to the reporter in good faith. This could create a really good discussion, so I hope people will contribute as they wish while avoiding any personal attacks on Derek, or any other skater for that matter.

More links:

AFP | Ohno, here we go again with Olympic 1,500m duel

Bay City Times | Opening ceremonies easy part for Izykowski as big day nears

KRT | For Ohno, proof is in preparation

Reuters | Ohno and Ahn race for 1500m gold

US Speedskating | U.S. Speedskaters Enjoy the Pomp and Pageantry of the Opening Ceremonies

Figure skater Kimmie Meissner, America's youngest competitor in Torino, would really like to meet Apolo.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer | It's wide open on a short track

Newsday | U.S. athletes carry extra burden

Asbury Park Press | With a cheer, teen lands part in TV spot
About the 'Oh no! It's Apolo'! Coke commercial.

Chosun Ilbo | Korea's Road to Olympic Glory Is a Short Track

Posted by noelle at 7:56 PM | Comments (78)

Olympics? What Olympics?

Cosmopolitan: 'Our Shirtless Guy Issue'

click to enlarge
This entry should carry a health warning, just like in the old OZ days! Let's just say, if any of you longtime OZers need reminding of what made you notice Apolo in the first place, well, look no further.

Denise B happened to comment yesterday that a barechested Apolo was featured in the March issue of Cosmopolitan. So I contrived to head out for lunch today and picked up a copy. And well, I think I keeled over at Wegman's.

I think there might be some words on one of these pages. I dunno, I haven't managed to look away from the photos long enough to find out.

[update] Download a background of the spread below, created by Yano!

Apolo in Life and Men's Journal magazines
Anonymous reports that Apolo is on the cover of LIFE magazine. In addition, there's a lengthy feature on him in the March issue of Men's Journal, on newsstands now (look for - who else - Bode Miller on the cover). I have mixed feelings on the Men's Journal article, but it's quite interesting, exploring in detail Apolo's return to Korea to compete in the World Cup last fall.

One additional selling point for Men's Journal: It opens with a grainy, sepia shot of a barechested and barelegged Apolo in a skating posture, reminiscent of the one of Eric Heiden from all those years ago.

Posted by noelle at 6:20 PM | Comments (41)

Opening ceremonies!

Well, I temporarily convinced myself I saw Apolo in some of the photos, but I think I was wrong. I'm not sure if he's marching or not. By the way, Caroline Hallisey was instrumental in the selection of Chris Witty to be the U.S. delegation's flagbearer.

The U.S. team behind flag-bearer Chris Witty. I see Jimmy Jang's eyebrows in there too!

Looks like Ahn is getting into it!

Yang Yang A leads in the Chinese team

Posted by noelle at 4:07 PM | Comments (17)

Torino quick links

Added some reference links over on the right for key resources over the next 2 weeks, such as schedules and results.

I don't think we'll have anything like Live Cyberscoreboard's real-time race simulations, but the official Torino 2006 web site does promise real-time race results.

Posted by noelle at 2:20 PM | Comments (3)

Dan Weinstein on team skating

NBCOlympics.com | Weinstein: Team skating tactics

Something that poses a more problematic call for short-track officials is the illegal, but more difficult to police, "team skating" tactic, which Weinstein knows is weighing on his former teammate's mind. But what is "team skating"?

Also: Torino Tracker | Weinstein skates from track to booth
"Earlier this week, I get on an NBC charter plane headed to Torino and I'm sitting in business class next to Jim Lampley; a first-time announcer sitting next to a guy who has broadcast 13 Olympics? I didn't even know how to act in business class of an international flight."

Posted by noelle at 2:08 PM | Comments (0)

Apolo on Today show this morning

Argh! I missed it. I ran into a coworker in the elevator as I arrived at work this morning. He's asking me what time the Opening Ceremonies are going to be on tonight. I casually mention that Apolo's on the front page of USA Today today. Then he's like, 'Yeah, he was on the Today show too.'

Sue watched and says this was a taped interview - not live. I feel a little bit better now. Click to watch yesterday's clip with Rusty Smith, Chad Hedrick and Catherine Raney.

February 9, 2006

Let the Games begin!

Hey, everybody... it's finally here! The Winter Games get underway Friday with the Opening Ceremonies on NBC. Just wanted to update you on OZ plans for the next 16+ days.

I'll announce short track results as they happen* as will NBCOlympics.com and other Internet news sites. If you prefer to watch tv to find out who won, you might want to steer clear of the Internet on competition days! *If I'm online - but I'm always online!

I'll be posting from the U.S. from now through Feb. 17. I arrive in Torino on Feb. 18, in time for that night's events, and will be in Italy through closing ceremonies. I hope to update OZ as much as usual, but I have additional obligations, as I'm doing some work for AOL, including writing a blog called Road to Torino.

Please welcome back Todd, the Wizard of OZ, who will be tag teaming for times I can't handle things or when it's the middle of the night in Italy.

Opening ceremonies: Long tracker Chris Witty has the well-deserved honor of being flag-bearer for the U.S. team. I believe this means that the speed skating team will march directly behind her at the head of the U.S. delegation. Not sure if that's long track only or both long and short track.

Short track competition dates: (Apolo's events in red)
Feb. 12: Men's 1500m final, women's 500m qualifying, women's relay semis
Feb. 15: Women's 500m final, men's 1000m qualifying, men's relay semis
Feb. 18: Women's 1500m final, men's 1000m final
Feb. 22: Women's 1000m final, men's 500m qualifying, women's relay final
Feb. 25: Men's 500m final, women's 1000m final, men's relay final
Official list of athletes competing in short track

For detailed info and your local TV listings, visit NBCOlympics.com.

GOOD LUCK APOLO AND TEAM USA!

Posted by noelle at 12:06 PM | Comments (30)

February 8, 2006

More from Ron Judd & media roundup [updated]

new links added below photos

Ron Judd | Apolo's creed: Spotlight beckons again for Ohno

[Ohno] attracted legions of young fans who loved the guy for what he looked like, who he was, or, in most cases, both. And many of them have quietly followed their leader for four years, tracking his progress daily on Web sites such as Ohnozone.net.

They already know what the rest of the world is about to learn: The Ohno emerging at 23 from the Colorado deep freeze is no longer just a smooth-under-pressure kid. He's an unusually thoughtful young man off the ice â€” and an even more fearsome athletic specimen on it.

[side comment:] Dear Ron Judd: I love you! For your wonderful writing about Apolo and unabashed admiration of him. And also for publicizing OZ in your article today. *blows kisses to Ron* (I swear, I didn't pay him!)

photo by DEAN RUTZ / THE SEATTLE TIMES

Apolo Ohno and Allison Baver cross the long bridge from the press center back to the Athletes Village

photo by DEAN RUTZ / THE SEATTLE TIMES

Mediaweek | Apprentice Fans to Vote for Olympian Contestant

NBC is offering fans the chance to vote among the elite athletes competing in the upcoming Winter Olympics to participate as contestants on The Apprentice. Among the athletes participating are speed skaters Casey FitzRandolph and Allison Baver.

MSNBC | National teams get the cold shoulder

USOC podcasts: Download audio interviews with Apolo Ohno and Rusty Smith!

Reuters | Ohno readies himself for Olympic frenzy

Torino Tracker | Apolo: the new Elvis

Boston Herald | Ohno back in spotlight

One of Ohnoâ€™s biggest challenge is avoiding the distractions that inevitably come his way. At a team meeting Tuesday night in the athletesâ€™ village, for instance, a fan strolled boldly in and interrupted the session to request an autograph from Ohno -- which he was given.

Gosh. That took some brassies.

New York Post | OHNO, NOT AGAIN

"He doesn't boast about his medals or that he's been to the Olympics or that he's an athlete," said Allison Baver, whom Ohno has dated for two years. "If they ask what he does, he blows it off. I often have to tell the person because I'm proud of his accomplishments. I say, he got a couple of medals a couple of years ago, you know."

Baltimore Sun | The speed zone

San Francisco Chronicle | Ohno, feeling stronger and faster than ever, goes his own way

Hartford Courant | Short Track Ice A Harder Place

OC Register | An often-injured skater is going for top medal

"I've broken all kinds of bones; I've been cut on my body a number of places," Rusty Smith said. "And now I'm at my third Olympics and I have a medal, but the thing I'm proudest of is that year in and year out I've still been one of the best in the world.

MetroWest Daily News | Fast times for Natick Olympian
At last, we hear how J.P. proposed to Caroline!

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel | Pre-Games doldrums about to get shot of adrenaline
Apolo Ohno is "kind of like a coherent and thoughtful Kurt Cobain on speed skates."

Bay City Times | Blade runner ready

USA Today | Olympians go their own way

People's Daily | Canada looks for short-track speed skating gold rush at winter Olympics

Posted by noelle at 11:25 PM | Comments (13)

Apolo undecided about marching in opening ceremonies

Some articles are appearing now based on information from today's short track team press conference in Torino:

AP | Break in Olympics training for Valentine's Day? Oh, no

"The whole opening ceremonies process for athletes is very long. It's like eight hours long - a lot of standing a lot of walking, a lot of waiting," Ohno said. "If I feel like I may get sick or I may get too tired, then I'll probably sit back," he said. "I would love to participate, for sure."

Ron Judd | Miller's act is getting old (scroll to bottom)
Ron Judd | As Games loom, it's getting a bit weird

Special note to the official Games News Service: Program your spellchecker to get it right. Those quotes issued Wednesday were from Apolo Ohno, one "l," not Apollo. The confusion is understandable, but keep it straight this way: Apollo was a god, and a rocket. Apolo is a god, a rocket - and a speedskater.

Shots from the press conference - quotes are below. More photos from NBCOlympics.com here.

(Photo by Vladimir Rys/Bongarts/Getty Images via Yahoo Sports)

Good heavens! Look at that media scrum around A.A. Ohno!

U.S .Olympic Short Track team member Apollo Ohno is surrounded to the media during a press conference for the Men's U.S.Short Track team in Turin Italy, Wednesday Feb. 8, 2006. The Turin 2006 Winter Olympics Games, open in Turin on Friday Feb. 10, 2006 . (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

Click below for quotes from Allison, Rusty and Apolo:

FLASH QUOTES

USA SHORT TRACK SPEEDSKATING TEAM

PRESS CONFERENCE - February 8, 2006

Allison Baver, Sinking Springs, Pa.
On whether she worried about ice conditions:
"I worry about them a lot. Ice conditions are probably more important in short track. If the ice is hard and breaking, skaters are more likely to fall. It changes the race a little bit. For us, a lot of it has to do with figure skating. In figure skating, they like ice completely different than we do. Going back and forth every day, that usually makes the ice not as good as short track."

Rusty Smith, Long Beach, Calif.
On the benefit of previous Olympic experience:
â€œI'm able to look back and see the little things I've done wrong and fix them.â€

On the teamâ€™s expectations:
"I'm looking for a couple of gold medals. You never know what color they will be, but you definitely look for medals.â€

On the ice conditions:
"I don't control the ice the conditions. No matter what they are, we all have to skate on them at the same time. The way ice rinks work, they can change minute to minute. If you put 9,000 people in the stands, it will change everything. You have to go with what you get."

Apolo Anton Ohno, Seattle, Wash.
On what the Olympic Games mean to him:
"The Olympic dream, the Olympic spirit is in everybody's blood, my blood, my family's blood. And not always does fame and fortune come with winning medals. I'm pretty sure most athletes aren't in this for the money. If they are, they're in the wrong sport."

On the competition:
â€œThe world has gotten so strong since he last Games. Everybody can skate fast, everybody can skate hard. You can get a heat that is harder than the semifinals. The semifinal could be 10 times harder than your final. Getting past every round is very hard."

Posted by noelle at 5:19 PM | Comments (6)

Today show Thursday

Tune in Today in the morning - the U.S. short track team is scheduled to make an appearance there. I'm not sure if it's the whole team or only a few...

Posted by noelle at 5:03 PM | Comments (7)

Update from Yuki

Access Apolo | Less than a week of final preparations

Yuki reports on how Apolo is settling in in Torino... he sounds happy there, loves the facility - but 'training has not been smooth.' Read the whole thing!

Posted by noelle at 2:12 PM | Comments (5)

'A guy who does things on skates that other people can only dream of'

Wow! Eric Heiden is the speedskating analyst for Yahoo Sports. Here's a clip where he talks about Apolo and short track.

Yahoo Sports: Ohno vs. South Korea

Also: Great skills, grandiose ideas
Bizarrely, Heiden mixes a lot of long track athletes and races into his short track analysis. Eric knows his speed skating, so I'll blame his editor at Yahoo Sports, who undoubtedly does not!

Posted by noelle at 9:43 AM | Comments (1)

Ice management at the Palavela & more media links

CBS Sportsline | American ice

In a land famous for its gelato, an American has the cool task of keeping the ice just right for some of Turin's Olympic skaters. Dennis Allen is in charge of the ice at Palavela, the arena where the figure skating and short track speedskating take place. Keeping athletes in both sports happy is no mean feat.
"Figure skaters enjoy softer ice, they want the blade to go into it. Short track skaters, instead, want harder, faster ice. They want to stay on top of it, they want the skates to grip a little bit," Allen said.

He must adjust the temperature -- and do it quickly. For short track, it has to be about 16-18 degrees; for figure skating, about 23-25 degrees.

To warm up the ice, Allen pours water on it. To freeze it harder, he can open the doors to the arena -- as long as it's cold outside.

AFP | Korean-born teen seeks Olympic short-track gold for US

Washington Post | The Short and the Long of It: In 500M, Ohno Is Still Waiting

Gaylord (MI) Herald-Times | Michigan's â€˜Izy' streaks into Winter Olympics

Detroit Free Press | Bay City one big family to speedskater

Chicago Sun-Times | Shani Davis back on the right track

Tallahassee Democrat | Olympics let Lobello show off

Grand Rapids Press | Sunday Profile: Olympic Speed Skater Kimberly Derrick - nice, in-depth piece on Kimberly!

The Australian | Stranger things have happened, just ask Bradbury

Winnipeg Sun | Smash-up derby

Posted by noelle at 9:40 AM | Comments (1)

February 7, 2006

Sports Illustrated interview

A terrific Q & A, from the Feb. 13 issue:

Sports Illustrated | First Person: Apolo Anton Ohno, Speedskater

Posted by noelle at 5:34 PM | Comments (6)

Apolo as spectator

Thanks to Yano for this one!

Apolo Anton Ohno of the U.S. watches a practice of figure skating ladies' short program at the Palavela, the short track and figure skating venue, three days ahead of the opening of the Torino 2006 Winter Olympic Games in Turin, Italy, February 7, 2006. REUTERS/Lee Jae-Won

Posted by noelle at 4:12 PM | Comments (8)

Torino Tracker blog: Tidbits on Team USA

NBC has a behind-the-scenes blog called Torino Tracker. Today has a few updates on the short track team from short track commentator Ted Robinson:

- Halie Kim continues to train and perform well in spite of pain from a nagging Achilles injury
- The team is reportedly pleased with ice conditions at the Palavela
- 'Apolo Anton Ohno blasts through his practice laps knowing that all eyes in the building are riveted on him'
Read more

Also: Bay City Times | Izykowski, Ohno aiming for Olympic glory
Go Apolo, go Izy!!!!!!!!!!

Posted by noelle at 1:25 PM | Comments (4)

Video clip: 'World Champ Prepares for Turin'

Reuters video with footage from Lake Placid and an interview with Apolo. Click image to watch!

Posted by noelle at 10:12 AM | Comments (9)

New photos - Tuesday at the Palavela

New Canadian Olympic skinsuits - revealed!

by REUTERS/David Gray

by REUTERS/Lee Jae-Won

Alex, Rusty, Apolo

by REUTERS/Lee Jae-Won

Canadian team at the Palavela

by REUTERS/David Gray

by REUTERS/David Gray

Posted by noelle at 9:39 AM | Comments (8)

February 6, 2006

More from Torino [updated 2/7]

Reuters | Yang (A) trying to be a golden role model

The recent articles on Apolo are old news really and so full of rehashed info that I can't tell if I've already posted them or not...

AFP | Ohno not again - Apolo hopes to lift shroud of controversy in Turin

Scripps Howard | Ohno limits interests to skating, snoozing

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette | Speed skater on a roll early
Article on Allison Baver

Newark Star Ledger | Back on the fast track with no distractions

"This has been happening as long as I've been skating," says Ohno. "Team skating is illegal in my sport, (but) I've seen almost every single country do it. And they're getting better and better at it. It's going to be hard, but it's something you have to overcome. That's going to be a big challenge at the Games."

NBCOlympics.com has a Q&A with both Kimberly Derrick and Anthony Lobello on their first impressions of Torino. Kimberly is rooming with Halie Kim in the athletes' village. Kimberly Q&A | Anthony Q&A

Also: USA Today | Lobello makes transition from roller skates to Torino

What's it like being on a team with Apolo Ohno? It's great for me, because I get to watch him skate. He is without a doubt one of the world's best skaters. He has proven that time and time again. Obviously Apolo will be trying to win himself at the Games, but as the least experienced member of the team, there's a lot for me to learn from him. I've done a lot of international competitions at inline, but ice is a different beast, so I think (Apolo) will be throwing in pointers here and there.

Do you look out for Apolo while you're skating? Is there a conscious effort to protect him? When we skate together, it's every man for himself. And if I can beat him, I'm going to beat him.

This next article makes it sound like they've drastically improved the ice at the long track oval in Torino from what it was at last fall's World Cup test event (ie, slow and and dirty). Hopefully ice conditions at the Palavela will have also been improved!

Houston Chronicle | Fast times please Hedrick

Chad Hedrick has spent his first few days at the Olympic Village meeting other U.S. athletes, including 2002 short track gold medalist Apolo Anton Ohno, and thinking about watching them in action should his events go well.

"I think I'll be the talk of the town for a while, with it (the 5,000) being the first event," he said. "I may not have a hard time finding a ticket to see some of the other events."

Gotta love Chad... whatever else he may be, he's not modest!

noticias.info | Apolo Anton Ohno, the King of the Short Track Rink

The fact that the English isn't quite that of a native speaker makes the writing in this article particularly charming!

Newsday | Apolo ready for 2006 Olympics

Posted by noelle at 8:23 PM | Comments (9)

February 5, 2006

Photos from the Palavela!

Well, a few photos have come over the wire from the short track training sessions in Torino. It's all starting to seem real now!

Anton Apolo Ohno of the U.S. trains at the Palavela short track and figure skating venue five days ahead of the opening ceremony for the Torino 2006 Winter Olympic Games in Turin, Italy February 5, 2006. REUTERS/Max Rossi

Maria Garcia

The detail of the helmet of Kimberly Derrick [sic] of the U.S. is seen as she trains at the Palavela short track and figure skating venue five days ahead of the opening ceremony for the Torino 2006 Winter Olympic Games in Turin, Italy February 5, 2006. REUTERS/Max Rossi

The photographer hasn't mastered names and faces of the U.S. team just yet! Lol.

Posted by noelle at 9:47 AM | Comments (15)

Ohno Zone

News and info about Apolo Anton Ohno and short track speed skating -- since February 2002