Ohno Zone: February 12, 2006 - February 18, 2006 Archives

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February 18, 2006

USOC Q&A with Apolo, Rusty, Shani, Joey [updated]

Just received these links - read all about Apolo and Rusty's reactions to their 1000m final. Also read what Shani and Joey Cheek had to say about their performances in the long track 1000m earlier today.

Apolo and Rusty share the moment after the 1000m final

Posted by noelle at 5:32 PM | Comments (12)

Congratulations to Olympic bronze medalist Apolo Ohno!

The A final was something else - the skaters had the audience at the Palavela on the edge of their seats. In the end, both Korean skaters managed to overtake Apolo for gold and silver, and he shrugged a bit after crossing the finish line. But make no mistake - Apolo is also a happy, pleased and relieved athlete tonight. It's a significant comeback for him to make the final and reach the podium after the 1500m debacle on Sunday. After this, Ohno's got his groove back!

Interestingly, both bronze medalists, Apolo and Meng Wang, celebrated quite a bit more during their flower ceremonies than the gold and silver medalists. They were really enjoying their hard-won moments. Wang reached the podium after Chun-sa Byun was disqualified.

Meng Wang enjoys her bronze moment

Later, in his press conference, Apolo spoke about the relief he felt in finally putting the 1500m behind him. He said that had been a 'devastating' setback to him and really took a toll on him mentally as well. He talked about how he tends to isolate himself from media, friends and family before big competitions, but this time he checked his email and took some phone calls and said that the support of his friends and family around the country had had a 'very, very powerful' effect on him. He spoke of this bronze medal representing a big success for him tonight and that after all the pressure and disappointment he decided to go out and 'skate for myself' tonight.

I'm sure you'll see articles with the exact quotes soon, but it was a very reflective Apolo we saw in the press conference tonight.

Way to go, Ohno! And awesome job by Rusty as well. It was great seeing the two of them skating in the final tonight.

Remarks by Hyun-soo Ahn (paraphrasing):

On whether it was more satisfying to win gold in the 1000m because he beat Apolo this time:
Ahn: 'Ohno and I skated against each other in every race tonight and I won against him every time. That gives me a special feeling.'

On whether he agress with Rusty Smith and other U.S. athletes who insist that the Ohno-Kim Dong-sung controversy from 2002 has been overblown:
[as the translator was translating the question, Apolo walked into the room and the reporters started laughing about the timing. The translator's like 'we were just talking about you!' I think she felt a bit awkward]
Ahn: 'I regard what happened in Salt Lake as unfortunate, but as an athlete I also understand that these things can happen.'

Ho-suk Lee (paraphrasing):

On what his strategy was when he passed Ohno for silver:
Lee: 'My coach said to me before the race, "You're on your own today. Play your own game. Play for yourself." I was going for the gold.'

Follow up to this was, 'yes, but can you talk about how you passed Ohno?'
Lee (looking baffled): 'I sped up.'

Posted by noelle at 5:00 PM | Comments (25)

Men's 1000m

HOLY SHORT TRACK! We have two American men in the Olympic 1000m A final! GO USA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[quarter finals]
Wow, somehow I managed to miss Rusty's race, where he set a new Olympic record in the 1000-meters. Congratulations, Rusty! He and Apolo are easily through to the semis as are all the usual suspects! Flou ran into a ton of traffic in his race and wound up disqualified but Eric Bedard skated through his to qualify for the semis with ease.

This is all I'll say for a while because they are restarting races sooner than advertised, and the media workroom is a long way from the action.

GO USA!!

Posted by noelle at 2:35 PM | Comments (52)

Women's 1500m heats

The women's heats just concluded and it's great to see Allison Baver and Halie Kim both advancing to the next round! Allison had a smooth, smart race. She went out to the front and led the race from wire to wire. Amanda Overland eventually moved up to 2nd behind Allison and the two of them put quite a gap on the rest of the field.

Halie false started in her heat and then got started last on the 2nd try. Still, she moved up to 2nd to qualify for the semis. This was by far the best heat of the 6 with the loaded field and constant passing taking place with Kim, Radanova and Borodulina giving it their all. As did Anouk Leblanc-Boucher... she definitely kept herself in the mix but finished out of the top three. Sun-Yu Jin was extremely immpressive skating far at the back of the pack and then just moving past the field with less than two go to win by at least a couple of meters.

Posted by noelle at 2:06 PM | Comments (6)

Congratulations to Olympic gold medalist Shani Davis!

Update from the Palavela - warmups are done and racing begins in 20 minutes. Just time enough to pop into the press workroom and check results from the men's 1000m long track, where Shani Davis won gold in 1:08.89 and Joey Cheek took home silver with a time of 1:09.16. Way to go, USA!

Posted by noelle at 1:10 PM | Comments (36)

Speedskating News Feb. 18 - Yahoo Sports

Olympic Speedskating News

Davis, Hedrick, Cheek, Miller, Ohno all in action Saturday

TORINO, Italy (Ticker) - Shani Davis may have a speedskating world record, but his three American teammates already know what it takes to win gold medals.

Davis looks to add his name to list of U.S. speedskating gold medalists Saturday, when he competes with fellow Americans Chad Hedrick, Joey Cheek and Casey FitzRandolph in the men's 1,000 meters.

The 2005 all-around world champion from Chicago, Davis is the first African-American to earn a spot on the U.S. speedskating team and set the world record in this race last year. He fell short in a bid to also qualify for this year's short-track team. (more)

Posted by noelle at 9:16 AM | Comments (5)

Torino, here I am!

Thanks for all the well wishes, everybody! I was thinking about everyone on the flight over... Crazy, but that was the shortest transatlantic flight ever. However, at all costs, do avoid making connections in Paris if you can. Miraculously me and my luggage both made it onto our connecting flight to Torino. I'm not sure how!

Also, I believe I may have accidentally become engaged to my seatmate, a Cameroonian lawyer. As we arrived in Paris he insisted on knowing when I'd be available to accompany him to Africa.

Well, so the weather here is lovely. I'm in my hotel and going to rest before venturing out to find my way to the southern part of the city and the Palavela. I must say the volunteers and other official workers I've come across so far are doing a terrific job! They were out in full force at the airport.

Tonight is a big night! I'll be carrying each of you in my heart... I'll try to check in from the Palavela!

Torino Tracker | Ahn, Apolo battle looms on Saturday

CBC Sports | Canada loses short-track protest

Ron Judd | Hedrick, Ohno might restore some luster to Games

AP | It's Ohno vs. South Koreans in 1,000-meters

Posted by noelle at 5:02 AM | Comments (8)

February 17, 2006

Torino, here I come!

I'm off to the airport in a few hours. Can't wait to get to Italy and see the short track events Saturday night! It's the women's 1500m and men's 1000m. Apolo drew Ahn in his 1000m quarter final so the world will get to see the matchup it was denied on Sunday!

I don't know what to expect in terms of access and facilities - the Olympics is a far cry from your regular short track event, and really, with all the TV and Internet coverage, I doubt there's much value I'll be able to add once I get there. I don't have a photographer credential, so that's out... Anyway, we'll see but I'll share as much as I can about short track here. I'll be posting about my Torino experiences in general on Road to Torino.

In the meantime, here's a link:

AFP | Ahn-Ohno short track duel set

Go Apolo, Go USA!

Posted by noelle at 12:00 PM | Comments (29)

Ahn-Ohno short track duel set

From Yahoo Sports | Ahn-Ohno Duel

South Korea's Ahn Hyun-Soo will have a much-awaited showdown Saturday with Apolo Anton Ohno in Olympic short-track speedskating.

Ahn is assured a chance to race against Ohno on Saturday because they are side-by-side in the same men's 1,000m quarter-final heat just six days after Ahn won the 1,500m final, a race Ohno missed after a semi-final stumble.

"All the Koreans were expecting a fight between Ohno and myself, so I'm disappointed they did not get the showdown they were awaiting," Ahn said. "I was also expecting to race against him. I was a bit disappointed I couldn't."

Posted by noelle at 10:03 AM | Comments (0)

February 16, 2006

Rusty Smith on Today show Friday

Sounds like a fun segment -- apparently he'll be giving Katie a tour of the Olympic Village! For more info, check out RustySmith.com.

Posted by noelle at 5:56 PM | Comments (16)

Daily linkage [updated]

Washington Post | Ohno Charges Back

Teammate J.P. Kepka noticed the solitude that Ohno, who is living in an apartment outside of the athletes' village, sought. Ohno called it "self time." He watched some tapes, meditated and tried to get his head in the right place for Wednesday night's races.
"I've been contemplating, thinking. I've been in extremely tough situations before," Ohno said. "I know I could have done better last Sunday. It was not my day. Whatever reason it was not my day; hopefully, I can change that."

New York Daily News | Ohno's turn comes to pass
"I'm so happy for us as a team," Ohno said.

Bay City Times | Izykowski, U.S. advance to semis
Guess what Alex Izy's Olympic highlight so far is?

Ron Judd | Ohno relieves worries, U.S. exceeds expectations

Great writing, as always! I disagree though that the U.S. men weren't expected to make the relay final.

Los Angeles Times | Don't Sell Ohno Short

Newsday | Ohno leads pack in 1,000 and relay

Philadelphia Inquirer | Baver Falls Short

St Louis Post-Dispatch | Kepka gets his moment
"Some people might find it a little strange, a bunch of guys grabbing each other's butts."
It's a beautiful thing, JP.

Don't miss these, from Sonia:
NBCOlympics.com | Love is in the air (with a great video report) and Ohno Goes Topless

Posted by noelle at 10:09 AM | Comments (52)

February 15, 2006

Canadians protesting outcome of women's 500m [updated Friday]

Well well well... it wouldn't be the Olympics without a controversy and a protest, now, would it? Thanks to commenter Bob for bringing this to our attention:

[new links]
A spokeswoman for the Bulgarian Olympic Committee says that the Canadian appeal doesn't stand a chance of succeeding.

Bloomberg |
AP | Canada protests women's 500 short track race

The Canadian Olympic Committee filed a complaint Thursday with the Court of Arbitration for Sport over the finish of the women's 500-meter short track final. CAS will hold a hearing Friday and is expected to announce its decision Saturday.

CP | LeBlanc-Boucher wins bronze in 500m

Anouk Leblanc-Boucher of Prevost, Que., avoided an illegal move by a Chinese skater to capture a bronze medal in the women's 500-metre short-track speedskating event at the Winter Olympics on Wednesday.
And if Canadian coach Guy Thibault has his way, Leblanc-Boucher could end up with a silver and her teammate could join her on the podium.

Thibault has filed a formal complaint alleging silver medallist Evgenia Radanova of Bulgaria raised her right skate as she crossed the finish line.

"I don't know if we have a chance of winning the appeal, but its worth trying," Thibault said. "That's the way Marc Gagnon won a bronze medal in the 1,500 metres in Salt Lake."

Really - Gagnon won bronze on an appeal? I don't remember...

Were the appeal to succeed, which it won't, because they never do, Kalyna Roberge would be the skater elevated to bronze.

"Kalyna didn't want us to file the appeal," Thibault said. "She was saying she wanted to beat the skaters on the ice and it's for her honour. But for me, I'd really like two medals and the rules are there to be respected."

Yeesh. I haven't seen the race yet -- but ugh, is there to be no end of Olympic protests?

Posted by noelle at 10:00 PM | Comments (48)

Ain't that a pretty sight

Alex Izkowski of USA, Yuri Confortola of Italy, Ye Li of China and Takahiro Fujimoto of Japan are all pushed by their fellow team mates as they make a change over in the men's 5000m Relay Semi Final during Day 5 of the Turin 2006 Winter Olympic Games on February 15, 2006 at the Palavela in Turin, Italy. (Photo by Clive Rose/Getty Images)

AP | Ohno Stays Out of Trouble in Relay Prelim (great link to speed skating slide show)

[Apolo Ohno] took control of the semis with one dynamic move, shifting into a higher gear that sent him careening around skaters from China and Italy with 30 laps to go. The crowd let out a gasp, then erupted in cheers at the sight of the soul-patched skater moving so effortlessly from third to first.
"It was the right move at the right time. It was perfect," said Rusty Smith. "It's awesome for me and Apolo to make another Olympic final together. We've been in this sport for a long time, and neither one of us has gold in relay. We have at least one more final in us."

"It's really is going to be crazy," said Ohno. "It's going to be the highlight of the games. It's going to be a rough race. Something is going to happen, and we hope we're not a part of it."

Posted by noelle at 4:09 PM | Comments (26)

Men's relay semifinals - complete

USA goes to the final!

No surprises here either, but a great day for the USA men, who won their semifinal and will advance to the final against FOUR other teams: Korea, China, Canada and Italy. Way to go USA!! Japan was disqualified in their semi and the Italian men were subsequently advanced to the relay final.

Skating for the USA were Alex Izykowski, J.P. Kepka, Apolo Ohno and Rusty Smith. Canada's team consisted of Eric Bedard, Jonathan Guilmette, Charles Hamelin and Francois-Louis Tremblay.

Lord knows what kind of mayhem is going to ensue with 5 teams on the track for the Feb. 25 final but Italy's presence in the final is sure to make the home crowd happy!

Note: Details are sketchy, but getting word from the Palavela that the DQ of Japan and Italy's advancement were announced with 20 laps to go. Huh.

Yikes - this could have been a real tragedy

Yuri Confortola (230) from Italy crashes with Takahiro Fujimoto (235) from Japan in the men's 5000 metres short track speed skating relay semi-finals at the Torino 2006 Winter Olympic Games in Turin, Italy, February 15, 2006. REUTERS/Lee Jae Won

Posted by noelle at 3:29 PM | Comments (11)

Women's 500m [updated]

First short track medal for Canada!

As expected, Meng Wang was golden in the 500m today, a race she hasn't missed all season... successfully defending the gold medal that Yang Yang A won for China 4 years ago in Salt Lake. Anouk Leblanc-Boucher captured Canada's first short track medal of the games as well.

Wang Meng, of China, celebrates winning the 500-meter gold medal in Short Track Speedskating in Turin, Italy during the 2006 Turin Winter Olympic Games on Wednesday Feb. 15, 2006.(AP Photo/Mark Baker)

1. Meng Wang (CHN)
2. Evgenia Radanova (BUL)
3. Anouk Leblanc-Boucher (CAN)
4. Tianyu Fu (CHN) DQ

Congratulations to the medalists!!

Philadelphia Inquirer | Bad night for Baver; better night for Ohno
It appears that Allison Baver injured her ankle in two crashes today. Best wishes to her for a speedy recovery in time for her 1500m races!

AP | Wang Meng gives China a short track gold

National Post | â€˜Wookyâ€™ gives Canada its fourth medal

(CP PHOTO/Paul Chiasson)
B final results: 1. Kalyna Roberge (CAN), 2. Marta Capurso (ITA), 3. Katerina Novotna (CZE), 4. Allison Baver (USA)

Allison Baver had a strong performance today. After winning her initial 500m heat Sunday night, she skated through to the semifinals today where her 3rd place finish behind Tianyu Fu and Anouk Leblanc-Boucher put her in the B final.

Crash in Allison's 500m quarter final

Allison Baver, Kang Yun-Mi from South Korea and Sarah Lindsay from Britain crash during the women's 500 metres short track speed skating quarter-finals at the Torino 2006 Winter Olympic Games in Turin, Italy February 15, 2006. REUTERS/David Gray

Hyo-jung Kim had a rougher outing today. After advancing to the quarter finals only due to the disqualification of another skater in her heat, Kim finished was eliminatd today after she finished last in her quarter final. Not sure if she's being hindered by injury because the field in her quarter final was an exceptionally strong one.

[on update] It's clear Halie Kim is really suffering from her Achilles injury. Hopefully it won't be as much of a factor for the 1500m coming up but you could tell watching Halie in her heat that's she not the same Halie right now!

Leblanc-Boucher and Kalyna Roberge but made it into the semis for Canada and Leblanc-Boucher qualified for the A, or medal, final in the 500m.

The surprise of the day was the ouster of both Korean women in the quarter finals. Yun-mi Kang was disqualified, and world champion Sun-Yu Jin was eliminated when she finished 3rd.

Posted by noelle at 3:21 PM | Comments (10)

Men's 1000m finals - complete, with no surprises

Apolo Ohno and Rusty Smith qualified easily in their opening heats to move on to Saturday's 1000m quarter finals. For Canada, Eric Bedard and Francois-Louis Tremblay moved on, as did Ahn and Lee for Korea.

Skating in the very first heat, Ye Li set a new Olympic of 1:27.048.

Apolo Anton Ohno competes in the men's 1000 metres short track speed skating heat at the Torino 2006 Winter Olympic Games in Turin, Italy February 15, 2006. REUTERS/David Gray

Posted by noelle at 3:14 PM | Comments (6)

Start lists for Wednesday are up! [updated]

[update] The men's relay team will be made up of Apolo Ohno, Rusty Smith, J.P. Kepka and Alex Izykowski.

Bay City TImes | Izykowski selected for Olympic relay team

You can see start lists here.

Ladies' 500m quarterfinals begin at 7:30PM Torino time. Men's 1000m heats are at 7:57PM Torino time. Men's relay semis are at 9:05PM Torino time.

Apolo skates in the final 1000m heat. As expected, we got the easier of the two relay semis, so that's great news! It's the USA, Italy, China and Japan. Click here to see real-time results once competition begins.

Ron Judd | Ohno back on track in best event: 1,000
AP | Ohno Tries to Bounce Back From Bad Start

Also: Sonia sends a link to KING5.com with a video clip I haven't seen before of Apolo talking about his 1500m semifinal on Sunday night.

Torino Tracker | Apolo tweaking skates for Wednesday's dual heats
Not sure if Ted Robinson is overanalyzing here...

Yuki Ohno: Apolo mentally ready for tonight
It is yet to be determined and released why Apolo's recovery from the contact with Li Ye (when Apolo was leading with 3 1/2 laps to go) was not at the level he should've had in the 1500m semifinal.

Reprogramming of Apolo has been done and he is looking forward for his test run today in the 1000m heats.

He is very relaxed but mentally ready for tonight.

Posted by noelle at 1:51 PM | Comments (28)

Hello, my name is Todd.

I just wanted to post a quick hello to everyone here at OZ! I've been behind the scenes for ages, and I'm going to be the lucky guy who helps out around here while Noelle goes to Torino.

If I haven't met you before, hello!

To all of my dear OZ friends, it's so good to see you again!

-Todd

p.s. I will once again be reachable at todd [at] ohnozone dot net.

Posted by noelle at 10:08 AM | Comments (24)

February 14, 2006

Apolo in training - Feb. 14

Apolo Anton Ohno of the United States examines a video of his training session on a computer at the Winter Olympic Games in Turin, Italy Tuesday, Feb. 14, 2006. (AP Photo/Amy Sancetta)

(AP Photo/Amy Sancetta)

And the prize-winning short track photo of these Olympics so far:

Italy's Katia Zini, Marta Capurso, Mara Zini and Arianna Fontana, left to right, celebrate after winning the semi-final race in the women's 3000 mete relay short track speedskating event at the Turin 2006 Winter Olympic Games Sunday, Feb. 12, 2006 in Turin, Italy. (AP PHOTO/CP, Andrew Vaughan)

Posted by noelle at 1:27 PM | Comments (2)

J.P. and Caroline's Valentine's Day

This is pretty cute. Some of the NBC producers took the couple out for lunch on Monday for an early celebration. Read more: Love Is in the Air

[update via USS:] The Kepka/Hallisey Valentine Day Special Feature will be aired on all NBC stations at 4:52 this evening. The couple were filmed strolling along the Po River, dining at a fabulous Italian restaurant and speaking with Julie Foudy, the reporter.

Posted by noelle at 12:11 PM | Comments (8)

Some insider remarks by Eric Heiden

The one thing that really surprised me was how disappointed Apolo (Anton Ohno) was in failing to qualify in his (1,500-meter) race. Growing up and participating in the short track like he has - and I refer to short track as NASCAR on ice - I figured he would brush it off pretty good. But it took some coaxing by his teammates to get him out of the doldrums. He has two events left, but I know what he's thinking. He made a tactical mistake at a crucial time ...
Overall, I think our team has much more depth in the long-track events, especially on the men's side. Short track is really Apolo Ohno and the rest of the group. That's why it (the 1,500) was pretty tough on everybody.

They really live and die with his success.

via the Sacramento Bee

Chin up, Apolo! Nobody can turn it around like you can... Mad Money's Jim Cramer certainly agrees.

Posted by noelle at 12:04 PM | Comments (10)

February 13, 2006

More short track media

Short trackers on TV: "Engaged-to-be-married short track Olympians, J.P. Kepka and Caroline Hallisey spent the day NBC's Julie Foudy for the NBC Olympic Dayside show. The segment will be aired on Valentine's Day." Anyone know what the Dayside show is?

Miami Herald | Olympic romance this Valentine's Day? It's been known to happen
A fun, gossipy read!

Rocky Mountain News | Ohno is great, far from unknown

Ohno thought about the future and said he might come back [to Colorado] after the Games, but it sounded as if it was a distant possibility. "I really love the sport, but it depends on how things go," he said. "I definitely still have a passion for the sport, but I don't know if I want to dedicate another four years to the sport."
Ohno has thought about moving back to Seattle after the Games or finishing school or even trying to start a career in Hollywood. "That'd be nice," he said. "That'd be very nice, but I don't know. I don't know if that lifestyle's for me. I don't know if I have the talent. I don't know if I have that option."

Bay City Times | Nothing but pride from family members as Izykowski reached semis

Posted by noelle at 9:28 PM | Comments (15)

Apolo and Allison talk about the men's 1500m

[update] You can now watch Apolo's 1500m semifinal on NBCOlympics.com

US Olympic Committee | Q&A: Apolo Anton Ohno and Allison Baver

February 12, 2006

Roundup from today

Two articles pretty much summarizes it all: Ohno stumbles out of 1500m

Dan Weinstein: "Simply put, Apolo made a strategic error tonight. It was an unnecessary move... if anything, [today's disappointment] will make him want it that much more."

Apolo: "You never know with this sport. It just wasn't my day."

Allison Baver: "It really breaks my heart. He's the best skater in the world."

Alex Izykowski: "He should be on the podium no matter what."

AND Jan and Kimo have been spotted: "[Ohno's] staying power was evident from the U.S. flags sprinkled around every part of the arena. One woman wore a fake soul patch on her chin. Another group held up a sign that said, 'Aloha Apolo. Remember We Had Dinner With You?'"

Reuters | Ohno ready to bounce back from loss

Apolo: "It sucks that I didn't get to go to the final and even challenge those guys for the medal. In my heart I felt I could have been there. I put everything on the table today. Prepared myself mentally, physically the best I can. I was really looking forward to it.

So were we! But as we all know, nobody bounces back from adversity better than Apolo.

More: Salt Lake Tribune | Oh no! U.S. short-track star falls short of podium

Apolo: "We had a bit of contact going into the corner. It caused me to get too far forward on my skates, [I] lost a lot of speed, and that was pretty much the end of it."

Apolo was slightly cut after his hand hit Ye Li's skate.

Posted by noelle at 7:19 PM | Comments (44)

More photos from today

Photos via Yahoo Sports. Click for more.

Also, check out this NBCOlympics.com gallery - there's a sequence showing Apolo's outside pass attempt on Li followed by his stumble.

Would love to know the story with this one:

Apolo Anton Ohno of USA arrives late and was cautioned before the men's 1500m Short Track speed skating B final during Day 2 of the Turin 2006 Winter Olympic Games on February 12, 2006 at the Palavela in Turin, Italy. (Photo by Clive Rose/Getty Images)

Mathieu Turcotte of Canada skates on his way to victory in the men's 1500m Short Track speed skating B final during Day 2 of the Turin 2006 Winter Olympic Games on February 12, 2006 at the Palavela in Turin, Italy. (Photo by Clive Rose/Getty Images) Getty Images

Meng Wang of team China, Kalyna Roberge of team Canada and Hyo-Jung Kim of team USA team Canada skate in the ladies 3000m relay Short Track speed skating semi-final during Day 2 of the Turin 2006 Winter Olympic Games on February 12, 2006 at the Palavela in Turin, Italy. (Photo by Clive Rose/Getty Images) Getty Images

Ye Li of China and Apolo Anton Ohno of USA skate in the men's 1500m Short Track speed skating semi-final during Day 2 of the Turin 2006 Winter Olympic Games on February 12, 2006 at the Palavela in Turin, Italy. (Photo by Clive Rose/Getty Images) Getty Images

Alex Izykowski of USA, Jean Charles Mattei of France, Charles Hamelin of Canada and Jia Jun Li of China skate in the men's 1500m Short Track speed skating heats during Day 2 of the Turin 2006 Winter Olympic Games on February 12, 2006 at the Palavela in Turin, Italy. (Photo by Clive Rose/Getty Images)

Posted by noelle at 4:58 PM | Comments (9)

Men's 1500m finals are complete [updated]

[update Monday] NBCOLympics.com video of Apolo's 1500m semifinal is up

After finishing 4th in his semifinal, Apolo Ohno did not qualify to skate in the 1500m A medal final. It's clearly just not Apolo's day today, I guess as he went on to finish 3rd in the B final, behind Mathieu Turcotte and Fabio Carta.

Apolo must be in a bit of shock right now. He'll come back stronger for the next one!

Men's 1500m A final:
Ho hum! Not results to gladden the hearts of North American fans, but congratulations to Olympic gold medalist Hyun-soo Ahn, silver medalist Ho-suk Lee and bronze medalist Jiajun Li. Charles Hamelin is 4th - probably the hardest place to finish in the Olympic Games. Full results

Li is shaping up to be the sleeper skater of the Games so far! I never counted him out but expected we'd wouldn't hear from him till the 500m.

1500m semifinals:

Photos showing the stumble that may have cost Apolo a medal (it's unclear if these are from the same race?):

Semi 3: A long, agonizing wait for results from Apolo's semis to come up! What happened in this race? and then the devastating news. How is this possible? Apolo was 4th in his semi and therefore won't skate in the A final. Ye Li and Peter Darazs were 1st and 2nd. How is this possible? These are not skaters that beat Apolo, ever! Looks like the refs spent a lot of time reviewing this but we won't know till tonight what happened. Did Apolo get boxed in? Did he strip an edge? Did he skate from the back? Is he really sick or hurt, as some of the reports we're hearing hinted at?

[update] Thank goodness for Canadians with access to live TV coverage. Read the comments for more info.

Also: AP | Ohno stumbles in 1,500 meters

With three turns to go, he tucked in behind the leader, China's Li Ye. But Ohno got a little too close to the other skater, his left shoulder appearing to touch Li as they leaned into the corner at speeds better than 30 mph.
It was a horrible â€” and uncharacteristic â€” mistake by Ohno, who briefly lost his balance and desperately stuck down his left hand in an attempt to stay up, sending a black lane marker flying off toward the padded walls. The 23-year-old American never went down, but the rest of the six-man field went on by.

Even though one of his competitors fell on the next turn, and another skater was disqualified for impeding, Ohno wound up with a fourth-place finish. That wasn't good enough â€” only the top two skaters moved on to the "A" final.

Click below for more on the semis and results of the 1500m heats

More on 1500m semifinals:
Semi 1: Charles Hamelin wins. He and Ho-suk Lee advance to the A final. Niels Kerstholt and Satoru Terao to the B final.

Semi 2: Oh, such a pity! Alex Izy finished 5th, so he's done. But great job, Izy, skating in your first games! We are proud of you! In something of an upset, Mathieu Turcotte finished 3rd and is relegated to the B final. Ahn Hyun-soo and Jiajun Li finished 1-2 to move on to the A final.

Results of 1500m heats
Heat 1: Mathieu Turcotte easily won his heat. With a kickass skinsuit like that, how could he not?? He, Pieter Gysel and Jon Eley all qualify for the semis.

Canada's Mathieu Turcotte moves in to pass Belgium's Pieter Gysel to win his heat in the Men's Short Track Speedskating 1500 meter race at the Turin 2006 Winter Olympic Games in Turin, Italy, Sunday, Feb. 12, 2006. (AP Photo/Kevork Djansezian)
Heat 2: Ho-suk Lee wins this one, surprise, surprise! Saturo Terao and Vyacheslav Kurginyan (RUS) also move on. Alas, Wim de Deyne is disqualified!

Heat 3: Sigh of relief as hometown favorite Fabio Carta is 3rd and will move on along with Ye Li and Cees Juffermans.

Heat 4: As expected, Hyun-soo Ahn wins this one handily with European champion Nicola Rodigari and Peter Darazs also qualifying.

Izy's up next... GO IZY!!!!!!!!!!!!

Heat 5: OH YEAH! Alex Izykowski is 3rd n the fastest race so far, and will go to the semis! Charles Hamelin won and Jiajun Li was 2nd. Awesome!

Charles Hamelin leads follow by Alex Izy

(AP Photo/Eric Gay)

Now it's Apolo's turn. GO OHNO!!!!!!!!!
Heat 6: WHew, it took a long time to get results but Apolo is the winner and other advancers are Niels Kerstholt (NED) Viktor Knoch (HUN).

Apolo Anton Ohno skates during his heat in the men's 1500 meters in Short Track Speedskating in Turin, Italy during the Winter Olympic Games on Sunday, Feb. 12, 2006. Ohno advanced to the semfinals with a time of 2:23.668. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)

Apolo Anton Ohno, (254), Niels Kerstholt, of The Netherlands, (245) and Hayato Sueyoshi, of Japan, race during the men's 1500 meters Short Track Speedskating in Turin, Italy during the Winter Olympic Games on Sunday, Feb. 12, 2006. Ohno and Kersholt advanced to the semifinals. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)

Posted by noelle at 3:45 PM | Comments (53)

Women's relay semis complete

On track first are China, Canada, Japan and USA. Not an easy draw for our girls! And China wins, with Canada 2nd. USA is 3rd and will skate in the B final. Apparently it was Allison Baver, Halie Kim, Caroline Hallisey and Maria Garcia skating for the USA today. Nice effort, ladies!

Korea won semi 2 with Italy 2nd - excellent for the hometown crowd to have them in the A final. Germany, Japan and France will join team USA in the B final on Feb. 22.

For those wondering, the A final in short track is the medal round. Generally speaking, if you're in the B final, you're skating for pride, though there have been situations historically at the Olympics where DQ's among A final competitors elevated the winner of the B final to the medal stand.

Posted by noelle at 3:32 PM | Comments (2)

Women's 500m heats complete - results

Heat 1: Meng Wang, the odds-on favorite for gold in this event was first in her heat. Marta Capurso, another Torinese, also moves on.

Heat 2: Alanna Kraus wins, Korean Yun-mi Kang is 2nd.

Heat 3: Evgenia Radanova, the 500m world record holder, and Katerina Novotna (CZE) both move on.

Heat 4: Hmmm... looks like the refs took a while to make a decision on this one. Halie Kim was 2nd behind Anouk Leblanc-Boucher. Yay, North America moves on! Stephanie Bouvier was disqualified.

Heat 5: It's Asian strength this time, with Tianyu Fu and Yuka Kamino moving on.

Heat 6: Okay, all the Americans are in! Woo! Allison Baver wins her heat with Erika Huszar 2nd.

Heat 7: Awesome! Kalyna Roberge, who's gotten on the 500m podium several times this season, is first and Italian junior sensation Arianna Fontana also qualifies. Out: Liesbeth Mau-Asam.

Heat 8: Sun-Yu Jin and Sarah Lindsay

Posted by noelle at 2:18 PM | Comments (4)

Access Apolo update

Apolo ready for 1500m

"It's a long, hard road through many struggles and challenges. It was my journey, the challenge to myself, my own decipline, my own weakness, my own fear. Now I am ready to enjoy my next journey!" says Apolo.

Yuki writes: "It is now he faces new challenges, reach what he cannot, do what he cannot."

Also: NBCOLympics.com | The Tale of the Tape - sizing up Ohno vs. Ahn with remarks from Jonathan Guilmette and Francois-Louis Tremblay

Posted by noelle at 11:06 AM | Comments (2)

Ohno Zone

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