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April 28, 2007
Short track interlude #1 - new head coach for U.S. Short Track
Big, important, dramatic news: Korean Jae Su Chun has been named head coach of the U.S. short track program, joining Laurent Daignault and Jimmy Jang as the latest coaching import... The tricky thing here is that he's also the latest coach we've poached from Canada's short track program (following Larry and Guy Thibault who both arrived last season).
Many Canadian skaters credited Jae with turning their technique around and helping Canada start to catch up to the Koreans again, but Jae lasted only one season in Montreal. Given differences between him and Canada's coaching staff and Speed Skating Canada, seems like a no-brainer for him to take the opportunity to be a head coach in our program - but none of this plays well in Canada.
Here's a translation of a recent article I came across that examines the situation:
La Presse | Salt Lake City, PQ
(meaning Salt Lake City is becoming an outpost of Quebec)
In Canadian short track speedskating, all roads lead to Salt Lake City. Why Salt Lake? Because the Mormon city is the new American capital of short track, but especially because the American federation is shamelessly poaching coaches from Canada's national training center. It all began with Guy Thibault. Dismissed from his post as head coach of Team Canada, he was quickly snapped up by the Americans, who named him their High Performance Director last October. Two months later, his friend, the coach and technical specialist Laurent Daignault, followed him to the U.S.Everyone thought the exodus was over, but no. Korean coach Jae Su Chun has also been seduced by the siren call of America: US Speedskating has named him their national short track coach. He's been working south of the border for the last month.
Yves Hamelin, directer of SSC's short track program acknowledges that Jae's departure leaves a bitter taste: "We're a bit disappointed. We placed our confidence in certain individuals and things didn't work out as planned."
Jae was recruited to work first and foremost on the Canadian skaters' technique. He also brought a different expertise in terms of training volume which is much more intense in South Korea than in Canada. The idea, Hamelin said, was to find the right balance between the Canadian and Korean approaches.
It didn't work out that way. "Jae wasn't comfortable with [that idea]," said Hamelin. "It compromised his confidence as a coach. It was his way or the highway."
Several skaters regret that Jae's stay in Montreal was so brief. Francois-Louis Tremblay: "For starters, it's disappointing that he's leaving. We're starting to feel a bit like a school club. When things no longer suit [our coaches], they head to the United States."
Laurent Daignault wasn't really surprised to learn that Jae Su Chun was going to join him in the U.S.: "He observed the same things I did. He wasn't comfortable with the coaching team and the management of Speed Skating Canada." Daignault is known for his reticence, but he doesn't mince words when it comes to SSC's management team. "I could have held on another year in Montreal but I'd have picked up and left no matter what. There was nothing that tempted me to stay." He describes Guy Thibault's dismissal and the engagement of the current coaching staff as a 'monumental error.'
The strong results of the Canadian team this past season were 'foreseeable', according to him. "We had developed some incredible depth. The results came in large part because of the groundwork we laid earlier."
Bitter words which are sure to displease his former bosses, who can in any case rejoice in the enthusiasm of skaters like Tremblay. He and his teammates started dryland training this past Monday. "Jae and our other coaches inspired us and were a breath of fresh air last season. We needed it since we had so much catching up to do. We needed a kick in the ass. The Koreans have been revolutionizing the sport."
Too bad that the Korean who was supposed to 'revolutionize' Canadian short track took the road to Salt Lake City instead.
On that awkward note - a warm welcome to Jae!
Posted by noelle at 9:57 AM | Comments (52)
Short track interlude #2 - Nationals redux
We haven't had a ST break for a while, but I have a few things to post today. First up, there's lots of video from Nationals available for your viewing pleasure, courtesy of Fred Gilbert and Mid Atlantic Speedskating: check it out here
We've also got some scans of great nationals shots from the Cleveland Plain Dealer, sent in by Stepho:
Alex Izykowski, Ryan Bedford, J.P. Kepka, Travis Jayner
Posted by noelle at 9:39 AM | Comments (8)
April 27, 2007
Apolo on Ellen
The PR folks at Ellen's show have confirmed that Apolo Anton Ohno will be a guest on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" on Friday, May 4, 2007. Check your local listings or visit www.ellendegeneres.com for time and channel.
Also, watch Apolo go jeans-shopping on E! News:
Posted by noelle at 7:47 PM | Comments (24)
April 25, 2007
New DWTS links
Watch Apolo and Julianne's appearance on Tuesday's Jimmy Kimmel Live ('noise upstairs' clip)
People | Monday's Dancing with the Stars: What You Didn't See
The Kindest Cut: Apolo Ohno has been training for his day job – speed skating – while working on DWTS, which leaves very little time for much else – including getting a haircut. Good thing Ohno's father, Yuki, was in town on Monday to give his son a trim. "He gave me a haircut today before the show," Ohno said of his shorter – but still shaggy – locks. And the elder Ohno is plenty proud of his son. "He was smiling so much. He was cheesing from the time he saw the pre-judge rehearsal this morning. When my dad is here I try extra hard." So, what did Dad think of his son's ballroom maneuvers? "I was so entertained tonight. I hope he teaches me so I can go on a cruise ship," Yuki said.
MSNBC | The Latest From 'Dancing With the Stars'
In a word? Adorable: Apolo Anton Ohno is adorable; that’s all there is to it. His dancing is adorable, his smile is adorable, his wee little teenaged partner is adorable, and even his soul patch is adorable. He’s cruising on charisma right now, which is not necessarily what you’d expect from a speed-skater, but fortunately, he’s also a mighty fine dancer, as he proves every week. This week’s rumba only added to his arsenal, because it was a graceful slower dance following a wildly successful samba last week.
MSNBC | Heather Mills sent packing on ‘Dancing’
Posted by noelle at 8:07 PM | Comments (97)
April 24, 2007
Dancing With the Stars post-mortem - week 6
MSNBC | Fun not enough to win ‘Dancing With the Stars’
Amusingly, after Julianne came down with something during the week, her actual brother came in to help with rehearsal and explained that he, too, had performed a rumba with her. He admitted that it was pretty awkward, but insisted that Apolo could get through it. The irony is that, for the second week in a row, the chemistry of Apolo and Julianne was not at all sibling-like — whether he feels good about it or not, they have the steamiest chemistry on the show by a mile.
TV Guide | Billy Ray Cyrus "Lets Loose" on the Dance Floor
Then there are the other two contenders, Ohno and Ali, both world-class athletes who weren't supposed to be gifted dancers. Sure, they have the muscle tone and stamina to pull off demanding dance routines. But no one could have predicted their moxie, elegance and astounding charisma. Ohno's proud father, Yuki Ohno, sat on the edge of the dance floor, dumbfounded by his son's rendition of the rumba. "He never danced like this when he was little," says Yuki. "He was a break-dancer." What goes through his mind as he's watching his son? "This," says Yuki, "is pure entertainment."
EW.com | Watch Your Step
Last night, Laila Ali, the strongest man in the room, and Apolo Anton Ohno, who played one of Laila's free weights during the group swing, tied for first place. Julianne's tasty brother Derek helped Apolo and Julianne combat the apparently crippling brother-sister relationship that's been shoved down our throats. Can't we just watch them dance without a breakdown of their lack of sexual tension? These two were, as usual, technically on point during their rumba, which included a chair that Len hated, Apolo lifting Julianne up from a split while she was still split, and some cute head jerks at the ''Ah, ah'' part of the Harold Wheeler Ensemble's rousing rendition of Gwen Stefani's ''Cool.''
Access Hollywood | Joey, Anton & Laila Turn Up The Heat on 'Dancing'
TV Squad | Dancing With The Stars: Week 6
Apolo Anton Ohno and Julianne Hough (Rumba) - Coming off of their perfect 30 performance last week, the pressure was on these two to follow it up. While it was not another perfect score, it certainly lived up to the hype. The chair gave me a flashback to Tucker Carlson's lone appearance on the show. Fortunately, once Apolo got up things took a much different turn than they did then. This was a beautiful dance, and I think they gained a little being the only couple doing the rumba. It helped them stand out from the rest of the up tempo numbers that came before. The way they used the chair in the dance was very creative. Another outstanding performance. Carrie Ann thought it was beautiful and praised the choreography. Len enjoyed the performance, but really didn't like the chair. Bruno called it a choreographed poem that he loved. The scores, (9, 9, 10). Good score.
Posted by noelle at 4:55 PM | Comments (54)
April 23, 2007
Dancing With the Stars - week 6
VOTE FOR APOLIANNE! 1-800-868-3411 and/or VOTE ONLINE You can vote up to 7 times per phone line or screen name so get busy!!
I'm not going to be live-blogging the show tonight, but feel free to post comments here as always. In the meantime, a link:
People | Heather Mills: 'Apolo Ohno Should Win Dancing'
"I think that Apolo should win," Mills, referring to Apolo Ohno, told Ryan Seacrest on his radio show Monday. "He has not got any dance experience – I mean, none of us have except Joey [Fatone] – and I think he is just amazing."
Heather strikes me as a very sensible woman!
Posted by noelle at 7:24 PM | Comments (131)
April 22, 2007
White House Correspondents Assoc. dinner covered live on C-Span
Thanks to reader RV writing in to let us know that C-Span will cover the events live tomorrow (Saturday, April 21) beginning at 8pm ET. As always, check local listings for confirmation.
C-Span web site - here it says live coverage begins at 9:35PM ET on Saturday.
[update] Photos of Apolo and Julianne at the event last night (more photos on Getty):
Posted by noelle at 9:03 AM | Comments (47)