Ohno Zone

April 12, 2006

Scenes from the men's 1000m in Torino

I meant to post this a couple weeks ago, but I think it's something we especially need to see now - Apolo skating! Here are photos from the men's 1000m final in Torino. Check out the gallery for loads more.

Apolo leads in his 1000m quarter final

Apolo leads Ahn and Rusty

Apolo chases Ahn as Lee prepares his move

Ahn, Lee and Ohno cross the line for gold, silver and bronze

Posted by noelle at 8:05 PM | Comments (38)

March 23, 2006

Photos from Torino

Thanks to Starangel from sending in these awesome shots!

1. Scenes from closing ceremonies

Chun-sa Byun, Apolo, unidentified, Sun-yu Jin, Ho-suk Lee

Allison Baver, Chun-sa Byun, Halie Kim, Sun-yu Jin

Ho-suk Lee, Apolo and Shani Davis

2. ... and from the relay final

Hyun-soo and Apolo

U.S. men celebrate their relay bronze

Ahn joins the party!

Posted by noelle at 6:59 PM | Comments (134)

March 14, 2006

Scenes from Apolo's 500m final in Torino

Still working on photos from Torino! Here are the latest. Lots more in the 500m final photo gallery.

I've also begun a new OZ Friends & Family gallery for 2006 onwards!

Flou and Apolo at the start line

Apolo leads Tremblay, Bedard and Eley

Apolo Ohno and François-Louis Tremblay in the lead

Ohno, Tremblay, Bedard

Turning for home - Ohno, Tremblay, Ahn, Bedard

Bear hugs and back slaps all around

Posted by noelle at 9:55 PM | Comments (110)

March 6, 2006

Photos from the ladies' relay medal ceremony in Torino

Are you still out there, Canadian fans? The latest photo gallery from Torino is ready with photos from the ladies' short track relay medal ceremony on Feb. 23 at the medals plaza downtown. See the gallery

Amanda Overland, Alanna Kraus, Melanie Gagnon, Anouk Leblanc-Boucher, Kalyna Roberge, Tania Vicent

Congratulations again to the Canadians ladies on their well-deserved relay silvers, and of course to Team Korea on their gold and Italia for bringing home bronze!

I have to say, this is one of the coolest experiences I've had, ever. From the grand stage on which the teams received their medals to the big party and fireworks afterwards, it was one of those, 'I need to pinch myself to make sure I'm not dreaming' nights. I can't begin to imagine how magical it was for the athletes!

Posted by noelle at 11:18 AM | Comments (10)

March 2, 2006

Photos from the men's relay medal ceremony in Torino

Click here to see the entire gallery.

Alex Izy throws his bouquet to his mom in stands

The Canadian men show off their medals

Posted by noelle at 10:33 PM | Comments (20)

February 28, 2006

Photos from Apolo's 500m medal ceremony in Torino

Not too much new here from what I've already posted, but I wanted to collect the photos into a single gallery. Click here to see them.

Posted by noelle at 9:18 PM | Comments (14)

February 27, 2006

AAO at closing ceremonies

Yipee!

Speedskater Apolo Ohno exits Stadio Olimpico with Team USA after the Olympics' closing ceremony Sunday in Turin, Italy. photo by DEAN RUTZ / THE SEATTLE TIMES

Posted by noelle at 5:06 PM | Comments (43)

February 26, 2006

Bye, Torino

Thanks for the AWESOME memories!

See all you OZers when I get back home to the States. Thanks to everyone who has read or commented over the past 16 days... and thanks in particular to those who've been with us over the past four years. This week marks our four-year anniversary. Incredible!

So thanks most of all to Apolo, the athlete who inspired us all.

Posted by noelle at 6:08 PM | Comments (93)

February 25, 2006

Apolo crosses the line for gold in his 500m race

The best short track photo I've ever taken.

Posted by noelle at 7:25 PM | Comments (75)

Not bad for a day's work

Gold on the left, bronze on the right

I am a lucky, lucky girl

I told Apolo his lane 1 draw tonight for the final was karmic payback for years of being 4th on the line, again and again. It couldn't have come at a better time!

So, after the medal ceremonies and press conference and doping control and impromptu photo ops, Apolo was whisked off to tape interviews for NBC affiliates then off to Bob Costas for tonight's Olympics coverage on NBC. ('Wait, can I eat at some point?' Apolo asked as he scrounged a bite of a Clif bar off someone nearby.) After that they were hoping to make it to USA House before it closes tonight... and then I believe it was on to Club Bud!

As for me, it's notte bianca ('white night') in Torino where the shops, bars, etc. stay open all night long and a street party atmosphere takes over. I'm off to party!

Thanks for reading!

Posted by noelle at 7:24 PM | Comments (39)

Scenes from Apolo's 500m medal ceremony

Posted by noelle at 7:20 PM | Comments (17)

Scenes from the men's relay medal ceremony

God I love these guys! And lots more photos where these came from...

Posted by noelle at 7:07 PM | Comments (24)

What a great night!!

CONGRATULATIONS TO THE BRONZE MEDALIST U.S. MEN'S RELAY TEAM!

That race was an incredible thrill to watch and I just can't believe that there were no falls or disqualifications in the end. It was hard to watch the two races taking place at the end -- the head-to-head battle between Korea and Canada and the duel for bronze between the USA and Italy. (What happened to China, by the way? I forgot they were in the race!) I was so wanting Canada to take back the lead and get the gold... it was an epic battle between those two teams with Korea prevailing at the end.

The celebration that broke out on the ice by the three teams afterwards was beautiful to watch. Someone sitting near me threw his flag to Apolo, who carried it for a bit and then handed it to Alex. The Koreans and Canadians were all taking victory laps, all the teams were hugging each other, their coaches, the other teams... it was awesome.

Hugs, hugs and more hugs

The medal ceremonies were a thrill as well. I found myself standing next to an Italian woman who was cheering and screaming for Apolo. She was in Salt Lake 4 years ago and has loved Apolo since she witnessed his fall in the 1000m race there. It was fun to watch the ceremonies with her! Apolo is definitely the most popular short track skater in Torino!

And then some more hugs!

Side note: I have a confession to make. I almost got in the middle of Apolo and Yuki's father-son congratulations moment after Apolo's 500m gold... I didn't realize Yuki was standing next to me at that moment and I was reaching down over the railing towards Apolo... so hopefully NBC edits that out of its coverage tonight! Lol. I am so mortified though so I thought I better come clean just in case.

Posted by noelle at 6:12 PM | Comments (44)

Apolo Anton Ohno - Olympic Champion!!

God, it feels good to type those words!

Congratulations to Apolo Ohno, 500-meters gold medalist! He overcame everything today to have the race of his life. In what I like to think of as a bit of karmic payback, Apolo drew lane 1 when it mattered most, for his 500m final race.

It's about time! After a few false starts, none of which were assessed to Apolo, he led the race wire to wire and nobody ever challenged him.

We came thisclose to a North American sweep as Ahn was in fourth behind Ohno, Francois-Louis Tremblay and Eric Bedard. He managed to nip Bedard at the end for a bronze medal but great effort by Eric.

And Flou, way to go on your silver! It's time we saw North American men on the podium at this thing. This is gonna be a helluva a beautiful medal ceremony.

CONGRATULATIONS, APOLO, FLOU -- and Ahn too!!

Posted by noelle at 3:20 PM | Comments (103)

Whew!

Wild and exhilarating night so far... Eric Bedard was involved in one of the wilder 500m starts I've seen. He got squeezed at the start and then going around the 2nd turn the Chinese skater cross-tracked on him or something, fell and took Eric out as well. It was pretty egregious so thankfully they restarted the race.

Apolo and Flou came through totally unscathed. I ran into Yuki just before the racing began and he said that Apolo has indeed been injured. Related to his ankle injury from China but exacerbated by a fall Apolo took at the USA-CAN exhibition in Lake Placid, his injury also involved the hip and hamstring.

They hadn't been completely open about the injury till now. Dr. Levine who has here has been working on Apolo and he's now physically in good form, but this injury is to blame for Apolo's troubles earlier on in Torino. What a pity to have an injury now!

Kimberly Derrick deserves big kudos for getting out there and skating today. Though she didn't qualify, she put on a courageous performance. Just before and after practice she entered and exited the ice sobbing, which I believe you'll see on NBC's coverage since their camera was following her closely. My heart goes out to Kimberly!

Posted by noelle at 2:12 PM | Comments (29)

Tonight's relay

Skating for the U.S. will be Alex Izykowski,J.P. Kepka, Apolo Ohno and Rusty Smith. Can't wait!

This article from the Bay City Times has a nice preview with quotes from three of the guys: Waiting is over: Alex Izykowski ready for golden opportunity

Posted by noelle at 11:10 AM | Comments (10)

February 23, 2006

Congratulations, Canada!!

The Canadian women's relay team show off their silver medals:
Amanda Overland, Alanna Kraus, Melanie Gagnon, Anouk Leblanc-Boucher, Kalyna Roberge, Tania Vicent

Tonight I was lucky enough to be able to go down to the medals ceremony at Plaza Castello and see the Canadian women's relay team receive their silver medals. It was an amazing scene! Congratulations to them all. You girls look gorgeous in silver!

Celebrating on the podium:
Alanna, Anouk, Amanda, Kalyna, Tania

The guys were on hand as well to see their teammates pick up their medals:
Alanna, Mathieu Turcotte, Amanda

In fact, the first people I saw were these two guys:
Francois-Louis Tremblay and Jonathan Guilmette

The golden Korean relay team were all smiles as they posed with their flag:
Yun-mi Kang, Da-hye Jeon, Chun-sa Byun, Sun-yu Jin, Eun-kyung Choi

The bronze-medal winning Italian ladies could not have been more chic in their Armani-designed outfits:
Mara Zini, Arianna Fontana, Katia Zini, Marta Capurso

Posted by noelle at 4:05 PM | Comments (25)

February 22, 2006

Post-relay press conference

Alanna Kraus, Amanda Overland, Kalyna Roberge, Tania Vicent, Anouk Leblanc-Boucher

Every girl had a chance to speak at the conference. Anouk was funny, adding wisecracks to everyone's comments and everyone seemed in very high spirits - as you'd expect! As were the Koreans - they got fits of the giggles while answering their questions!

Amanda told me afterwards that when the rest of the team pulled her onto the ice to join them for the victory lap, security was trying to stop her but they weren't about to let Amanda miss her moment with the team!

Amanda and Alanna stayed behind for interviews and I asked for a photo! The media volunteers working there got photos with them too.

Posted by noelle at 4:58 PM | Comments (7)

Women's relay flower ceremony photos

Congratulations to the teams of Korea, Canada and Italy on their relay medals!

The Canadian, Korean and Italian teams celebrate their victories with the crowd

The Korean women pose for a photo after the flower ceremony

The bronze-medal winning Italian team slips and slides across the ice

Posted by noelle at 4:53 PM | Comments (3)

Women's relay final

Wow, the women's A final was one of the best I've ever seen! I hope NBC will show it. First of all, the crowd here was unbelievable, as soon as the Italian team stepped onto the ice they began chanting 'I-tal-ia! I-tal-ia!' and could scarcely stop to let the race begin. First there was a false start, still not sure on which team, then the 2nd time Korea fell at the start (with Anouk Leblanc-Boucher jumping over the fallen Korean) and the race was called back.

Canada was in great position for the first several laps behind Korea and then on an exchange got squeezed out and fell back to a distant third. I saw Jean Dupre (head of Speed Skating Canada) jump to his feet and put his hands to his head in dismay. :-P Canada managed to slowly make up the gap, and at the end Kalyna Roberge passed China again to take over 2nd. It was amazing...

Italy finished last and the crowd quickly erupted in loud and incessant boos... sure enough, China was disqualified for impeding (I believe it was the exchange that squeezed out Canada), giving Italy the bronze medal and making the Palavela spectators happy once more! Canada immediately brought Amanda Overland, who did not skate the A final, onto the ice to take the victory lap with them. That was a great gesture!

B final: Congratulations to the USA for winning their B final! They were solid in the race... of course it makes you think of what might have been, but nevertheless a stong performance! I saw on the monitors pictures of the team cheering one another on before getting on the ice. They looked happy and excited about their race! Skating tonight were Halie Kim, Allison Baver, Caroline Hallisey and Kimberly Derrick.

Posted by noelle at 3:21 PM | Comments (8)

Women's 1000m and men's 500m heats

Women's 1000M: Both sets of races were really exciting! Halie Kim really has a tough time off the start, you can see why she didn't make it too far in the 500m. She seems to do okay once she gets going though, and she won her heat to move on to the quarter finals Saturday. Kimberly Derrick also had a nice race. She and Amanda Overland were the two qualifiers in their 1000m heat. It was great to see a successful evening for our North American girls! People in the stands were like, 'Where are you from? Canada or the U.S.?' because I was cheering for both countries' skaters.

500m heats: The men's races weren't quite as successful both were just as exciting. Unfortunately, Anthony Lobello fell on his own during his heat and is not going to move on to the next round. Apolo Ohno was involved in a thrilling heat with tons of passing. He won and raised his fist as he crossed the finish line first.

Another great heat was the 2nd to last with Nicola Rodigari, Haonon Li and Ho-suk Lee. All three of them managed to qualify. Francois-Louis Tremblay had a tough time in his heat but moved on after Ho-jin Seo was disqualified for cross-tracking.

Posted by noelle at 2:49 PM | Comments (9)

My first long track experience

I attended the men's 1500m long track event yesterday at the Oval Lingotto. It's pretty amazing to have your first long track experience at the Olympics! The stands were a sea of Dutch orange, accompanied by smaller but vocal blocks of Norwegians and Italians.

I was very excited to see the Chad Hedrick vs. Shani Davis showdown. The event was widely expected to come down to the two of them, and they skated in the final two pairs, making for a suspenseful day.

In addition to Chad and Shani, Derek Parra (defending 1500m gold medalist) and Joey Cheek also competed for the U.S. After skating well out of the running, Derek remained on the ice in the warm-up lane and it was cool to see him there shouting encouragement to Shani each time he came around the track.

Skating in the final pair, Shani was assessed a false start (personally, I didn't see it at all) and it's possible that it cost him the gold. But the day belonged to Italy's Enrico Fabris, who has had quite a Games (3 medals so far)! It's a powerful illustration of how a country's athletes elevate their game for an Olympics at home. We certainly saw that when the USA won 34 medals four years ago in Salt Lake, and this time Italy is performing above expectations as well.

Fabris takes his victory lap

It was a thrill to be there for Fabris's win and to see the Italian fans explode with cheers, chants of 'I-tal-ia! I-tal-ia!' and flag-waving -- the latter creating such a powerful breeze that it put a chill in the air!

I opted to skip the press conference afterwards which may have been a blessing since it certainly sounds like it was... interesting. The whole Chad-Shani feud, while endlessly fascinating to the media types here, is hard to stomach for a fan.

Posted by noelle at 4:10 AM | Comments (36)

February 21, 2006

Men's 500m and women's 1000m get underway tomorrow!

Dan Weinstein sizes up Apolo's prospects in the 500m:
Torino Tracker | Don't count Apolo out of 500m

Torino Tracker | Shani, Apolo learn from one another

Seattle Times | Ohno eyes medal in 500 meters

And start lists are up! Anthony Lobello had the good fortune to draw lane 1 in his opening heat, where he'll face Jiajun Li, Mikhail Rajine and Peter Darazs. Apolo Ohno drew lane 3 and has Paul Stanley, Roberto Serra and Takafumi Nishitani in his heat.

Kimberly Derrick will make her Olympic debut in the 1000m. She'll skate against Amanda Overland, Rozsa Darazs and Yuka Kamino. Halie Kim has Erika Huszar, Julia Elsakova and Aika Klein.

Good luck Apolo, Anthony, Kimberly and Halie!!

Posted by noelle at 2:36 PM | Comments (22)

February 20, 2006

Olympic village

Today I went to check out the Olympic Village. It's connected by footbridge to the Main Media Center and it's a nice little walk over the train tracks to see where the athletes live and play. While I was there, I met my twin, Emily Hughes!

Me and my sister Emily. I hope she wins a medal!

It's funny. Yano - who was the first person to say I looked like Emily - had told me I should try to get a pic with her for kicks. I figured I'd never have the opportunity, but she was right there in the Olympic merchandise store with her coach, at the same time I happened to be there. So I explained about our resemblance and Emily was very nice and agreed to the pic.

Actually, the first familiar faces I saw were Canadians. After I climbed the stairs down from the footbridge, I passed by the main building where all the services are - bank, post office, supermarket, ATM, internet lounge, etc. There is a cafe with a glass wall, and sitting at a table were Eric Bedard with coaches Guy Thibault and Martin Gagne... there was a 4th Canuck but I forget who it was! I considered going in and asking for a photo but I got struck by shyness.

A bit later on I was just looking around the 'village square' when Eun-kyung Choi and Hyun-soo Ahn jogged by. They were doing loops around the piazza. So I shot a couple photos:

Inside the services building they have several display cases containing Olympic medals won by Italian athletes in the past, names like Alberto Tomba, Deborah Compagnoni, Stefania Belmondo, Piero Gros... and Fabio Carta! Here's Fabio's relay silver from Salt Lake:

The pedestrian bridge and Olympic gateway arch connect the Olympic Village and Main Media Center and shopping mall. This photo is looking towards the Olympic Village:

For more photos of the Olympic Village, check out the photo gallery. [link updated! you made need to select 'guest' option to view!]

Posted by noelle at 2:18 PM | Comments (28)

February 19, 2006

Apolo's medal ceremony

Tonight was Apolo's medal ceremony. I know there is some confusion about flowers vs. medals. Immediately after an event ends, a flower ceremony takes place where the medalists are presented with bouquets and acknowledged as the medalists. However, there is no national anthem or flag raising. That happens the following day at the medal ceremony, which takes place each evening in central Torino at Piazza Castello, a public square in the heart of Torino.

I wasn't able to go tonight but it was a beautiful setting -- daylong downpour had chnaged over to heavy snowfall.

Awwww -- look at this guy!!

Apolo Anton Ohno of the U.S. poses with his bronze medal for the men's short track speedskating 1000 metres event at the Torino 2006 Winter Olympic Games in Turin, Italy February 19, 2006. REUTERS/Chris Helgren

Bronze medalist Apolo Anton Ohno, of the United States, celebrates during the medal ceremony for the Short Track Speed Skating Men's 1000 meters at the Turin 2006 Winter Olympic Games in Turin, Italy, Sunday Feb. 19, 2006. (AP Photo/Domenico Stinellis)

Congratulations, Apolo!! We're so proud of you!

This is pretty cute too:

South Korean short track speedskaters Ahn Hyun-Soo and Lee Ho-Suk pose with their gold and silver medals for the men's 1000 metre event at the Torino 2006 Winter Olympic Games in Turin, Italy February 19, 2006. REUTERS/Chris Helgren Reuters

Posted by noelle at 4:23 PM | Comments (31)

More from Saturday at the Palavela

Familiar faces! Jan, Lupe and April (Kimo, sorry you got cut off!) Tiasha and Junko are here too

Apolo flashes the shaka sign to the gang on his way off the ice from the flower ceremony

Amanda Overland did a great job in the 1000m yesterday, making it all the way to the medal final where she skated a strong race. In the end the three Korean ladies ultimately overpowered everyone else although Byun was disqualified afterwards (as was Tatiana Borodulina) which moved Wang up to bronze.

For the final, I had snuck into the stands close to where the skaters lined up to be announced. There was a loud cheering section for Amanda near me and when she took off her helmet, waiting to hear her name, they were screaming for her. She briefly turned around with a smile and a wave to acknowledge the support.

1000m final: Amanda Overland leads Meng Wang, Eun-kyung Choi and Tatiana Borodulina

This group of college-age looking guys were totally cheering Apolo on all night!

Apolo listens intently to Ahn during their press conference

Posted by noelle at 3:36 AM | Comments (17)

February 18, 2006

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)

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)

February 15, 2006

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 | ‘Wooky’ 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)

February 13, 2006

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

More links:

Bay City Times | Bay County takes pride in Izykowski's performance

AP | Garcia and company fall short

Xinhua | Li Jiajun brings China 1st medal in Turin
Jiajun's bronze was a 'stunning upset.'

TSN.ca | Hamelin fourth in 1,500m short-track
Definitely Chinese team skating affected Charles: Guy Thibault: "If he wasn't bumped, he could have won that race." -- Also some nice remarks from the Canadian women on their relay hopes - and on their new skinsuits!

noticias.info | The Divine Apolo falls, Ahn Wins Easily
More delightfully florid English from the Spanish-language news site!

Torino Tracker | Koreans find closure at the Palavela

Ron Judd | Ohno slips and is ousted in semifinal

Detroit Free Press | Ohno slips up in first medal try
Some nice reaction from Alex Izykowski on his Olympic debut yesterday.

USA Today | Controversy seems long ago for Ohno's adversary
About Dong-sung Kim - who wants to visit Washington, DC. I invite you, my friend!

Reuters | For South Korea, speedskating revenge is sweet
Ha! Enjoy it while you can...

Chosun Ilbo | Korea Picks up First Gold in Torino

MetroWest Daily News | Ohno disappoints and Natick skater ousted
Unfortunately, the Olympics is already over for Caroline Hallisey and Maria Garcia.

Posted by noelle at 9:45 AM | Comments (35)

February 12, 2006

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 — and uncharacteristic — 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 — 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)

February 11, 2006

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

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)

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

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)

February 7, 2006

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)

New photos - Tuesday at the Palavela

New Canadian Olympic skinsuits - revealed!

by REUTERS/David Gray

by REUTERS/Lee Jae-Won

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)

December 10, 2005

New Torino web site: Off the Podium

NBC's official Olympics site hasn't launched yet, but in the meantime, they've launched a new site called Off the Podium. It's full of multimedia athlete features highlighting Olympic hopefuls and many of the expected stars in Torino, with video interviews, bios, Q&As, journal entries and photos.

This graphics-rich site really lets the athletes' personalities shine through -- the emphasis is on them, with less of a focus on the details of their sports. It's a lot of fun to explore -- I'm still making my way through the site, discovering new stuff.

There are also contests planned every week or so in addition to regular content updates to keep you coming back. It looks like they'll keep adding to the site through the upcoming months, so check back frequently!

Currently there is a caption contest going on - one of the photos to caption is a funny one of Apolo from a few years back! Details here.

Apolo is one of the featured athletes who has his own page. You can check it out here: http://www.offthepodium.com/athletes/apolo_antonohno.php

I've seen a number of other speed skaters there as well, including Allison Baver, Shani Davis, Chad Hedrick, Kip Carpenter and Joey Cheek. There is a section where Apolo describes how he and Shani are both good friends and strong competitors with each other.

Thanks to Kristen for posting the link for Off the Podium in the comments!

Posted by noelle at 3:51 PM | Comments (9)

November 13, 2005

Olympic qualifications after 1 World Cup

Results from Bormio will be combined with results from next weekend in The Hague to determine the number of skaters each country gets per distance in Torino. A country with 2 skaters in the top 32 gets 2 spots at that distance in Torino. A country with 3 skaters in the top 8 gets 3 spots at that distance in Torino.

Here's where things stand for Team USA after the first World Cup:

U.S. men
- 1500m: Two in top 32 (on track for 2 spots in Torino)
- 500m: One in top 32 (on track for 1 spot in Torino)
- 1000m: Two in top 32 (on track for 2 spots in Torino)
- Top 3 in relay (need to be in top 8 to compete in Torino)

U.S. women
- 1500m: Three in top 32 (on track for 2 spots in Torino)
- 500m: Three in top 32 (on track for 2 spots in Torino)
- 1000m: Three in top 32 (on track for 2 spots in Torino)
- Top 6 in relay (need to be in top 8 to compete in Torino)

How's the competition doing? The Canadian men in particular have a plan in place - to earn the maximum number of spots available for Torino -- and so far they are executing on it very impressively!

- Korean men on track to qualify 3 in 1500m, 2 in 500m, 2 in 1000m
- Canadian men on track to qualify 3 in 1500m, 3 in 500m, 3 in 1000m
- Chinese men on track to qualify 2 in 1500m, 2 in 500m, 1 in 1000m
- Korean ladies on track to qualify 3 in 1500m, 2 in 500m, 2 in 1000m
- Canadian ladies on track to qualify 2 in 1500m, 3 in 500m, 2 in 1000m
- Chinese ladies on track to qualify 3 in 1500m, 2 in 500m, 2 in 1000m

Posted by noelle at 10:51 AM | Comments (2)