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January 19, 2008
Canadian trials results, day 2
Thanks again to Lewis Kazagger for sending the results, and to Junko for the photos, taken at the start of the men's and women's A finals.
Men's 500m
A final
1. Charles Hamelin
2. Jean-Francois Monette
3. Guillaume Bastille
4. Steve Robillard
5. Remi Beaulieu
B final
1. Francois Hamelin
2. Gagnon
3. M-A Monette
C final
1. Tremblay
2. Turcotte
3. McFarlane
4. Boisvert-Lacroix
D final
1. Bean
2. Shoebridge
3. Fortin
4. Friesen
Women's 500m
A final
1. Kalyna Roberge
2. Jessica Gregg
3. Valerie Lambert
4. Anne Maltais
B final
1. St. Gelais
2. V Maltais
3. Kraus
4. Bourgela
C final
1. Vicent
2. Mendes-Campeau
3. Avrith
4. Blondin
D final
1. Waddell
2. Hewitt
3. Truchon
4. Rivest
E final
1. Marceau
2. Do-Duc
3. Gagnon
4. Carrier
5. Dier
Amanda Overland was dq'ed for 2 false starts in her 500m heat. Andrea Do-Duc was eliminated as well.
Posted by noelle at 6:39 PM | Comments (11)
January 18, 2008
Canadian trials results, day 1
Thanks to our Canadian operative Lewis Kazagger for sending the results and to Simon P for the photos!
***
Overall standings after day 1 (combined with results of trials #1 earlier this season):
Women
1. Roberge
2. Vicent
3. Overland
*4. Maltais
*5. Avrith
* Maltais was originally mistakenly listed as 5th overall and Avrith as 4th overall.
Men
1. M-A Monette
2. C. Hamelin
3. Gilday
4. J-F Monette
5. Boisvert-Lacroix
There was some really good racing today by the athletes. Unfortunately there were a couple of questionable decisions by the referees which may have cost a few skaters a chance to race in the appropriate final.
Men's 1500m
A Final
1. Marc-André Monette 2:14.53
2. Michael Gilday 2:14.65
3. Francois Hamelin 2:14.78
4. Guillaume Bastille 2:14.98
5. Jean-Francois Monette 2:15.07
6. Charles Hamelin DQ
Dq for cross track at the finish.
Francois Hamelin
Charles Hamelin
B Final
1. Francois-Louis Tremblay 2:19.30
2. Guillaume Blais-Dufour 2:20.11
3. Alex Boisvert-Lacroix 2:21.48
4. Maxime Fortin 2:24.01
5. Dustin Miller 2:43.80
6. Vincent André DQ
C Final
1. Tyler Derraugh 2:19.29
2. Steve Robillard 2:19.40
3. Corey Rasmussen 2:19.41
4. Jonathan Guilmette 2:19.63
5. Liam McFarlane 2:21.63
6. Michael Friesen 2:28.51
D Final
1. Mathieu Turcotte 2:18.57
2. Remi Beaulieu 2:18.59
3. Nicolas Bean 2:18.88
4. Vincent Cournoyer 2:18.99
5. Mathieu Richer 2:20.42
6. Richard Shoebridge 2:23.84
7. Allyn Gagnon DQ
Women's 1500m
A final
1. Kalyna Roberge 2:22.70
2. Tania Vicent 2:23.51
3. Amanda Overland 2:23.58
4. Nita Avrith 2:23.68
5. Laurie Marceau 2:24.48
6. Jessica Hewitt 2:26.23
7. Valerie Maltais 2:49.26
B Final
1. Marianne St. Gelais 2:31.05
2. Marie-Andrée Mendes-Campeau 2:31.07
3. Jessica Gregg 2:31.18
4. Valerie Lambert 2:31.29
5. Andrea Do-Duc 2:36.22
C Final
1. Anne Maltais 2:36.80
2. Alanna Kraus 2:36.90
3. Vanessa Békanger-Marceau 2:37.76
4. Megan Aksenchuk 2:38.57
5. Elisabeth Dier 2:38.61
6. Annie-Claude Rivest DQ
D Final
1. Ivanie Blondin 2:32.60
2. Anne-Sophie Grenon 2:32.97
3. Melanie Gagnon 2:33.21
4. Jill Gilday 2:33.69
5. Caroline Truchon 2:33.86
6. Gillian Richmond 2:33.97
7. Sabrina Bourgela 2:34.44
Posted by noelle at 5:05 PM | Comments (7)
Apolo Ohno named USOC athlete of the month
Congratulations to Apolo on winning male athlete of the month honors for December 2007 from the USOC! Katherine Reutter was runner up in the female athlete of the month category. A well-deserved honor for both skaters! Details are available from US Speedskating.
Posted by noelle at 1:10 PM | Comments (7)
Canadian trials
They begin today in Montreal...
Canadian Press | Roberge to use Canadian short-track trials to gear up for home meet
Kalyna Roberge is more nervous about the Canadian team trials this weekend than she is before a big World Cup meet. "I think it's even more stressful than the World Cup because here we have something to lose. You can lose in the World Cup, but if you don't do well at the trials, your ranking can be hurt."[Coach Martin] Gagne said he expects his top three women - Roberge, Anne Maltais of Montreal and Tania Vicent of Laval, Que. - to keep their spots easily. And Amanda Overland of Kitchener, Ont., is ranked a close fourth and gaining.
The 26-year-old felt in top form in races so far. "I was right in there challenging the Koreans and Chinese," she said. "In the last year, I don't know what it is, whether it's refining little technical things and being less afraid to go fast. I'm getting older now, but it's like I'm getting more wise."
Those battling for spots include 2006 Olympic team veteran Alanna Kraus of Calgary, Nita Avrith of Montreal, Annik Plamondon of Longueuil, Que., and Ivanie Blondin of Ottawa.
Posted by noelle at 8:08 AM | Comments (3)
January 17, 2008
Ahn is out for the season
This is a tragedy! I know a lot of fans were excited to see Ahn skate in person in Salt Lake City, and of course he would have been looking to extend his amazing run of World Championship titles with an unprecedented 6th win in March.
Best wishes to him for a speedy and complete recovery!
Korea Times | Skating Champ Injures Knee While Training
Five-time defending short track speedskating world champion Ahn Hyun-soo has injured his left knee, finishing his 2007-2008 season.The Korea Skating Union (KSU) announced Wednesday that the 22-year-old, a Turin Olympic gold medallist, collided with a fence during national team training at the Korea Training Center in Taeneung and he was sent to a hospital and diagnosed with a knee fracture.
As a result of the sudden injury, Ahn will miss the International Skating Union (ISU) World Cup Short Track fifth and sixth series, scheduled on Feb. 1 and 8 in Quebec City and Salt Lake City, respectively.
Plus, he will not compete in the World Short Track Speedskating Team Championships in Harbin, China, on March 15-16.
However, what's more frustrating is his gold stretch at the world championships will end at a meet on his home soil of Gangneung, Gangwon Province. Expected to rehabilitate for two or three months, Ahn will not be capable of skating before home fans.
The short track racer overcame a foot injury to achieve a five-peat at last year's world championship in Milan, Italy, becoming the first five-time world champion.
He is registered as the world record holder in the men's 1,500 meters and 3,000 meters and is one of only two Koreans to win three gold medals in a single Olympics after winning golds in the 1,000-meter, 1,500-meter and 5,000-meter relay races of the Turin Olympics. The other Korean to achieve that feat is short tracker Jin Sun-yu, who claimed three golds in the women's 1,000 meters and 1,500 meters along with 3,000-meter relay in Turin.
Also, I think this is kind of bizarre, but some Korean news agencies have made photos available of Ahn pre- and post-op - click the link to view them (nothing graphic, don't worry):
Posted by noelle at 8:33 AM | Comments (18)
January 13, 2008
Junior World Short Track Championships, day 3
Many thanks to Mike Kooreman for keeping us so well informed on the action in Bolzano. Despite a run of bad luck today, huge congratulations go out to Team USA for a successful weekend, including top 8 overall finishes for J.R. Celski and Kyle Uyehara!
Ladies 1000m
Well, the ladies had a tough go at it this morning in their heats. They knew they were going to have to go out there and make something happen today but it just didn't happen. They all fought very hard but just couldn't get there. Erin Bartlett was DQed for impeding in her race while trying to move into a qualifying position. Skylar McCormick and Alyson Dudek both finished 3rd after repeated attempts to get into qualifying position. They are all leaving this Junior Worlds with quality experience and hunger to perform better next year.
Overall Alyson was 20th, Skylar was 32nd, and Erin was 37th.
Mens 1000m
Our men came out gunz-a-blazin this morning. In their prelims they all skated from the front and controlled their races. Unfortunately, Walter Rusk made what we saw as a clean pass to take the lead with only a few laps to go but fell at the apex, taking two skaters down with him. He was DQed and out of the rest of the competition. J.R. Celski and Kyle Uyehara moved on easily.
In the heats, Kyle had what we would refer to as an easy race. It didn't look like there was anyone who could challenge him until he stepped on something on the ice and fell. He got up in a hurry and started skating again but fell again in the next corner. Something was obviously wrong with his blade.
After he got off we checked it out and the outside edge of his left blade was torn apart. Later we found out that someone was missing a bolt from their skate and had been looking for it on the ice. Looks like Kyle found it the hard way. J.R. made some great moves and moved on easily.
In the quarterfinal, J.R. let Guillame Blais-Dufour from Canada take the race out hard and passed him easily with a couple laps to go to take the race. With the ease of his skating and passing it looked like nothing was going to stop him today. He was motivated, focused, and prepared to do whatever was necessary to win.
In the semifinal, J.R. was matched up against two Koreans, Maxime Fortin from Canada, and Petr Hargas from the Czech Republic. He was focused and looking forward to the challenge. When the race started, he eased off of the line and quickly went around the pack to put himself into a good position. The race was playing out great for him when all of a sudden he went own. I'm still not sure why he fell. He was looking great and his skates looked fine when he got off of the ice. It looked like maybe the ice just broke out from underneath him. Needless to say, he was pretty disappointed.
Mens 1500m Super Final
With the whole weekend behind him, J.R. was ready to prove himself in the super final. He looked extremely focused and ready to make things happen. The race got going fast early on with a lot of passing and jockeying for position. The three Koreans in the final started creeping their way to the lead, while J.R. and Guillame were passing back and forth. Suddenly the Koreans took off. It took J.R. a lap to get by Guillame, but by the time he did the Koreans had a sizable gap. He made up a little ground on the last lap but ended up 4th.
Overall J.R. was 5th, Kyle was 8th, and Walter finished 57th.
In the end, I think the team learned valuable lessons and are determined to see better results next year. Of course we would like to see more medals being won but we did have two guys in the top 8. Overall everyone put in a great effort this weekend. I look forward to seeing great results from these skaters in the near future.
Posted by noelle at 1:50 PM | Comments (20)