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February 3, 2007
Relay semifinals in Heerenveen
Women's relay: Skating for the U.S. were Kimberly Derrick, Sarah Lang, Sophia Milan and Cherise Wilkins. The women had only 2 teams in their semi. They were in second until 5 laps to go when Sophia moved into first. They got passed back and Kimberly moved back into 1st with 1.5 laps to go. The women move on the A Final.
Men's relay: The men had 4 teams in their semi. They were in 4th most of the time from various run-ins with skaters doing their push-offs. They rocketed into first with about 17 laps to go and had a 15-meter lead when Jordan slipped and fell. They tagged up and caught the pack with 8 to go, but they ran into a skater/missed the push, and fell again. They are out of the final.
Cherise skates in the relay semi
Kimberly skates in the relay semi
Posted by noelle at 5:32 PM | Comments (2)
USA men take 1500m gold and silver
Congratulations to Jordan Malone and Ryan Bedford who took 1st and 3rd respectively in the men's 1500m final today in Heerenveen - way to go USA!!
1500m medalists: Ryan Bedford (bronze), Jordan Malone (gold), Pieter Gysel (silver)
The race: Ryan and Jordan settled into 5th and 6th place for about the first 8 laps. They both moved up with a lot of pushing. Jordan shoots to the front of the race and Ryan gets knocked off the back of the pack. Jordan is cruising in the lead as Ryan moves up and finishes 4th on the line, but a French skater got dq'd and Ryan receives the bronze. Jordan receives the gold.
Scenes from the race:
Finish of the men's 1500m (Jordan was already safely across the line for the win at this point)
Click the link to read more about team USA's performance in the 1500m:
1500 meter semis men: Picking 2
Jordan was in 2nd for the first part of the race and then slips back in the pack. He moves to 3rd with 4 laps to go and then moves in the lead with 2 laps to go. Jordan wins the semi and moves to the A Final
Ryan stayed in the middle of the pack and passes into 1st with 4 laps to go. He wins the semi and moves to the A Final.
Travis Jayner was in a very quick start, fast paced semi and was in 6th place for the beginning of the race. He moves up and actually gets 2nd on the line, but is dq'd for impeding with 6 laps to go.
Travis in his 1500m semi
Posted by noelle at 4:38 PM | Comments (15)
1000m bronze for J.P. Kepka!
Congratulations J.P.! Here he is on the podium earlier today in Heerenveen:
1000m medalists: Wim de Deyne (silver), Nicola Rodigari (gold), J.P. Kepka (bronze)
JP moved up and made some great passes during the final. He finished 3rd and received the bronze. Scenes from the race:
1000m semis
Cherise Wilkins took the lead from the start and with 3 laps to go got passed and finished in 4th place.
Sarah Lang skated a great race and was in 2nd place until the back stretch of the last lap, when she was knocked down. She was inserted into the A Final.
Sarah skating in the 1000m A final on Saturday
JP skated in 3rd most of the race and edged his blade forward at the end of the race to get 2nd place. Very close and tight race.
Skating in the 1000m quarter finals, Alex Izy moved from 4th to 1st with 6 laps to go. He was passed with 3 laps to go and stayed in 2nd, but was out-kicked by 1 inch at the finish line. He finished 3rd and did not move on to the semis.
Posted by noelle at 4:36 PM | Comments (4)
Women's 1500m B final
Kimberly Derrick made it out of the repechage earlier today to move onto the medal rounds in the 1500m later in the day. She was in a very fast semi and skated in 6th for most of the race. She finished 5th in the semi to move on to the B final. In the B final, she sat in 2nd for the first 6 laps when the paced picked up with 7 laps to go. She moved to 1st with 3.5 laps to go and then got passed back with 2 laps to go and finished 3rd.
Posted by noelle at 4:30 PM | Comments (0)
Report from Heerenveen - day 2 - 1500m repechage
The A final was packed with 8 skaters. Kimberly Derrick was in 4th or 5th place during most of this fast-paced race. She made an outside pass with 1.5 laps to move into 2nd place and finished 2nd, qualifying for the regular (medal-round) semi of the WC 1500. They were picking 4 skaters from this final to move on.
Click the link below for details and photos of team USA's performances in the 1500m repechage:
Kimberly and Sophia Milan were in the same heat. Kimberly was in 2nd most of the race. Then with 5 laps to go, she made her move into the lead and won the race by 10 meters. Sophia moved into 3rd with 3 laps to go, but took out a Netherlands skater and was dq'd. Kimberly moved to the final of the RP round.
Tina Koenig was in the 2nd heat and sat in 5th place most of the race. With 4 laps to go, she made a pass on the inside of 2 skaters entering the corner and pushed them out. She was dq'd.
Posted by noelle at 9:30 AM | Comments (1)
Report from Heerenveen - 1000m heats (Friday results)
Sorry for the delayed posting, but I've been having email access problems... Here are the final set of results from day 1 in Heerenveen:
Women's 1000 heats -- picking 2
Heat 2 was Sarah Lang With 5 laps to go there was a fall and Sarah and a Russian were left standing. They coasted in for a 1-2 finish. Sarah was 2nd and goes to the next round.
Heat 3: Cherise Wilkins took the lead from the start and was passed with 2 laps to go. 3rd was a ways back, so Cherise finished in 2nd place and goes to the next round.
Heat 3: Lezleigh Jaworski was in the back of the pack and passed into 3rd with 4 laps to go. The pass was not good and she was DQ'd so she will not be able to skate the RP round.
Men's 1000 heats - picking 2
Heat 5. J.P. Kepka took the lead for the first few laps and then sat in 2nd place for the rest of the race. The Italian and JP were doing 9.7's for the last 5 laps. JP was 2nd and goes to the next round.
Heat 7 - Alex Izy was in the back and with 4 laps to go moved into 2nd place. He sat there until the finish, as 3rd place was 10 meters back.
Also, Ryan Bedford and Jordan Malone's heats:
Posted by noelle at 9:14 AM | Comments (0)
Travis Jayner skating in his 500m heat in Heerenveen on Friday
Posted by noelle at 9:10 AM | Comments (0)
February 2, 2007
Report from Heerenveen - 500m heats preliminaries
Men's 500 men's prelims
First, Dutch schoo kids arrived and took over one end of the stands just before the 500's. They were all orange, had signs and horns and were very loud and enthusiastic. They went crazy for the Dutch skaters. A good group of kids.
Heat 4: From lane 1, J.P. Kepka took the lead from the start and dominated. He won by blue-blue.
Heat 6: From lane 3, Alex Izy got off the line 3rd. He passed a Dutch skater 1.5 laps into the race for 2nd, but apparently bumped him and was DQ'd and will not move to the repechage round.
Coach Scott Koons videotapes the races with USA team members seated behind him
Posted by noelle at 8:04 PM | Comments (7)
Report from Heerenveen - 5000m relay heat
U.S. men's relay team warms up
The U.S. team of Travis Jayner, Jordan Malone, Ryan Bedford and Alex Izykowski skated in the 3rd heat today along with Russia and Great Britain. GBR was in first and the U.S. in 2nd for the first few laps. Travis moved into the lead a few laps later. Jordan fell in the corner with 37 laps to go, putting the U.S. behind by 1/2 a lap.
The team worked hard and caught back up with 20 laps to go. They sat in 3rd for a few laps, then Ryan moved into 2nd place off of Travis's push with 15 laps to go. The team moved into the lead with 9 laps to go and finished first with a 10-meter lead.
It was an exciting race and it looked like the ice was not that great as people were slipping a lot. They finished with a time of 7:04, with the fall.
The women did not have heats, but start with semis for the relays tomorrow.
Saturday will start with the RP rounds and then the finals in the late afternoon.
Posted by noelle at 11:51 AM | Comments (11)
Report from Heerenveen - 1500m heats
Women's heats - picking 2
In heat 2, Tina Koenig went from the back of the pack to the front and was leading a few laps until other skaters passed her for the lead. Tina ended up 4th in the heat and will move on to the repechage round.
Tina Koenig skates in her 1500m heat
Sophia Milan, skating in heat 3, took the lead with 8 laps to go. She fought off most skaters to stay in 2nd place, only to get out-kicked in the last 5 meters by a Polish skater.
Sonia Milan - 1500m heat
Kimberly Derrick took the lead from the start and was doing mostly sub 10.5-second laps, then was passed with 2 laps to go by the Italian. With one lap to go she was passed by a Netherlands skater and didn't have enough energy to get 2nd place back. All three will go to the repechage round.
Kimberly Derrick - 1500m heat
Men's heats - picking 2 and the 4 fastest 3rd place finishers
Jordan Malone sat in 4th or 5th most of the race and took the lead with 6 laps to go. With 2 laps to go, there was a fall that split up the group. Jordan and another skater were in the top 2 spots and then just coasted to the qualifying round. Jordan finished 2nd.
Jordan Malone - 1500m heat
Ryan Bedford was in heat 5. There was a ton of passing each lap for most of the race. Ryan took the lead for the last time with 3 laps to go and won the heat.
Travis Jayner was in heat 6. There was also a lot of passing in his heat. He took the lead and then was passed by two skaters. He was 3rd in the race but qualified for the next round by having one of the 4 fastest 3rd-place times.
see cyberscoreboard for complete results
Posted by noelle at 11:40 AM | Comments (7)
February 1, 2007
Postcard from Heerenveen
World Cup 5 begins tomorrow in Heerenveen, Netherlands! More info is available on the official event web site (including a schedule and list of participants). The initial draw for tomorrow's qualifying rounds has also been posted on Cyberscoreboard.
Can anyone please explain why only 2 U.S. guys are entered in the 500m and in 1000m #1?
We've got some nice coverage already with photos sent in by Beth Bedford:
Your average mid-day oval in the Netherlands -- packed with skaters
'When in Holland:' J.P. Kepka and Alex Izykowski cycle to pratice. The skaters all rented bikes at 5 Euros a day so they can get from the hotel to the rink and around town.
Jordan Malone takes in the action that's presumably taking place on the long track
Typical Dutch view of windmills through bus windshield
Event billboard adorns a parking lot in Heerenveen
How do you say 'baaaa' in Dutch, anyway?
Posted by noelle at 4:34 PM | Comments (32)
January 30, 2007
Winter Asian Games news roundup
[updated Wednesday 1/31] - Hyun-soo Ahn and Jin-sun Yu claimed both golds in the 1000m today in Changchun.
Wang is backpedaling a bit after her victory in yesterday's 500m women's final:
China Daily | Wang Meng diplomatic on fallout with team
[posted Tuesday 1/30]
Hu Ze's victory in the 500m gave China its second short track gold today in Changchun. Hyun-soo Ahn finished first but was disqualified for impeding. Korea's Kyung-taek Song won silver and Ye Li of China took bronze.
Also - trouble in paradise? Some surprising outspokenness:
China Daily | Speed Skating Controversy Mars Opening Day Success
Despite winning bronze in the women's short track 1,500m, Meng Wang threatened to quit the team, saying "the national team is not suitable for me." After the race, she complained that there was no teamwork at all in the race, which had three South Koreans and three Chinese competing, meaning she was unable to win."I will apply for training back in the local team after the Winter Asiad, since the arrangements of the coach are not suitable for me," she said.
Her complaint was echoed by teammate Zhou Yang, who finished fifth. "I have participated in three big events," said Zhou. "But this time we had to decide ourselves how to race."
Xinhua | Olympic champion Wang Meng hints fallout with coach
CCTV | Dark horse Sui Baoku snatches gold in men´s 1,500 meter short track speed skating
Sui: "My two teammates helped enormously. In the first laps they skated ahead to eat away at most of our rivals' stamina. That allowed me to trail behind and save my energy."
People's Daily | Olympic champions upset on first day short track at Asiad
1500m bronze medalist Meng Wang: "I didn't feel much cooperation between our team members. We were at an disadvantage position although we had as many people as South Korea in the final."
Posted by noelle at 5:00 PM | Comments (60)
Dancing with Apolo
From E! Online Q&A column 'Watch With Kristin':
From Janey: Have you heard anything about the upcoming Dancing with the Stars this March? Jennifer Aniston might guest star?
Yes, and Elvis and the Easter Bunny, too…In an alternate universe, they are doing the cha-cha. In this universe I can tell you I've just heard exclusively from an ABC source that Olympic speed-skating champ Apolo Ohno has signed on for the new season.
The new season of DWTS begins March 19 on ABC. official web site
Get those Tivos ready, people!
Posted by noelle at 9:24 AM | Comments (86)
January 29, 2007
Upsets brewing in Changchun...?
Results from Asian Winter Games
Men's 1500m: AP | Chinese speedskater wins first gold at Asian Winter Games
China also took gold in the men's 1,500-meter short track speedskating when Sui Baoku edged out South Korean Olympic triple gold medalist Ahn Hyun-soo. China's Li Ye finished third. (!)
[update] See video highlights of the race - featuring the 'miracle pass' by Sui on the outside of 3 Korean skaters for victory. Good stuff!
Women's 1500m: Jung Eun Ju upset Olympic champions for short track title at Winter Asiad
Jung Eun Ju of South Korea upset triple Turin Olympic champion and compatriot Jin Sun Yu and Chinese Wang Meng to lift the 1,500m short track speedskating title at the Asian Winter Games in Changchun on Monday.
Also: Korean short-track team manager conceals gold goal at Winter Asiad
Links via People's Daily Online except where noted
Posted by noelle at 12:02 PM | Comments (31)