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October 18, 2003
500m Craziness! Well, we're all very sorry that Apolo didn't advance past his quarterfinal tonight. He skated a good race, but it looked like he just couldn't find room.If I find out more I'll post that info later. The last two men's semifinals made up for the disappointment in terms of sheer spectacle. In the first semi, Jiajun Li (CHN) fell, not sure how or why, which is shocking enough. Then Guilmette of Canada slipped by Lee of Korea to make it two Canadians to advance to the final. In winning that semifinal, Jean-Francois Monette established a new world record in the 500m with a time of 41.184, upsetting that of his teammate Jeffrey Scholten. The second semifinal has to be the wildest race I've seen yet. Song of Korea fell in the first lap, it's not clear how exactly, but he went spiraling through the air almost in slow motion. The three others continued, and Jeff Scholten, who probably wanted to reclaim his world record on the spot, improbably fell himself in the next lap, flying into the boards. Song was later DQ'ed for impeding on Scholten, but not clear how or whether this was connected to the outcome of the race. Posted by noelle | 10:06 PM | Comments [8]Here's a mini-movie from Apolo's 500m heat earlier today (which he won handily)... this is from my small camera, not up to the usual standards. Hope you enjoy. Apolo 500 meter heat right-click and save target as... starring: 500 Preliminaries The men's 500 prelims just concluded, and were exciting to watch. Many false starts, as usual, but comparatively few DQs. Most of those you would expect to advance did indeed advance to the heats. Apolo's race was pretty uneventful. He started from the dreaded lane 4, but moved up to finish second to Guilmette. J.P. Kepka skated a great 500, which I think is his strongest distance, leading most of the way by a good margin. The Chinese skater closed the gap in the last half lap but J.P. managed to maintain his lead to win the heat. During the men's heats, Allison Baver came and sat with us for a few minutes and explained more about her fall in yesterday's 3000 relay. During one of the false starts, the German skater fell and kicked Allison's blade with her skate. This visibly damaged the bend of Allison's blade and really affects her ability to skate, especially around the corners. Unfortunately, skate technician Paul Marchese can't fix it with the tools he has here, so they either need to borrow equipment here in Calgary, or else Allison may need to get new blades before Marquette. Allison said she will skate the relegation 500 today on her damaged blade. Posted by noelle | 03:46 PM | Comments [3]The next 3 are from the medal ceremony for the 1500m final. Apolo won bronze. He seems pleased with what he received in place of a bouquet!
1500 podium: Ahn, Lee, Ohno
From US Speedskating: "[In the men's 1500m final] the Korean pair went to the front with about eight laps to go," said U.S. National Short Track Coach Tony Goskowicz. "Apolo did all he could do to stay close as the Koreans worked together to stay in front. But it's a good start for the first competition of the year." Ohno Wins 1500-meters Bronze Medal at World Cup; U.S. Men's Relay Team Advances October 17, 2003 Apolo 3rd in 1500 Final The two Koreans got to the front. You know the rest! Interesting to note that the times are slow! It looks like none of the men or ladies were close to the world record. Posted by noelle | 10:08 PM | Comments [8]Two Americans in the 1500 Final! Apolo's and Rusty's semifinals were incredibly exciting races. Apolo made a huge inside pass on the entire field in the early laps of the race and after that, he and Song kept trading the lead throughout the race. All that passing and jockeying for position was exciting enough without the spills and impeding that happened later. Apolo deftly avoided getting caught up in it but early on was visibly impeded by Song who was later DQ'ed, giving Apolo the victory for the semi. Rusty skated a tremendous semifinal, leading much of the way and making some incredible passes at various parts of the race. He had us out of our seats and yelling! He seemed completely determined tonight. I didn't see the infaction of the Belgian skater, but it resulted in a much-deserved advancement for Rusty. Two Americans in tonight's 1500 final. GO USA! Posted by noelle | 09:47 PM | Comments [0]Update from Calgary - 1500 Heats It was an exciting 1st round of racing this afternoon! The ladies went first and Bridie Farrell was amazing in her heat, leading most of the way against a tough field and finishing 2nd to advance to the semi-finals this evening. Caroline experienced a strange heat. It seems the bell wasn't rung for the last lap, and the skaters got confused. Caroline knew when to stop skating and we saw her pull up as the rest of the field kept skating. Because of this she appeared to finish 4th when she had actually finished in a qualifying position a lap earlier. The Russian skater was later disqualified and Caroline rightly advanced to the semifinals this evening. Rusty was awesome in his heat - led most of the way, and was nearly taken out at the end when a French skater fell after both were apparently impeded by Jonathan Guilmette, who was later DQ'ed. Rusty recovered beautifully - how he managed to keep skating on one foot, recover and still finish 2nd is beyond me! I was jumping up and down screaming - it was nearly as good as The Jump in Bormio! Apolo's heat was a bit wild, with a lot of contact and jockeying for position, but it was ultimately uneventful and he won. Tonight should be exciting with 1500 semis, finals and relay prelims. Sonia and her daughter Lauren were spotted in the stands keeping one Yuki Ohno company! Posted by noelle | 06:28 PM | Comments [3]Apolo at warmups this morning I spy Fabio Carta, yukking it up with Tony Goskowicz and US team trainer Apolo yawns as he takes the ice for his 1500m heat (he won) If you're following Live Cyberscoreboard this weekend, World Short Track's team entry lists will help you decipher the action. They've got all the skaters listed by helmet number so you can easily figure out which skater is skating in which heat. Also, CyberScoreboard now has initial heats listed for today's 1500 and relay heats. 1500 - Ladies 1500 - Men 3000m Relay 5000m Relay Thanks to Anita for finding this fabulous shot from the SLC World Cup last Feb.
Hi everyone! Here's an update from Calgary... Today was the final training day before World Cup action begins at noon tomorrow. A dozen U.S. fans were the only spectators on hand today taking in practice at the Oval. As usual, the team spent more time milling around center ice than actually skating. Not a lot happened! Still, it was exciting to see them all out there again after the long off season. Apolo is looking forward to racing this weekend and predicted we'll see some fast times. Since the majority of current world records were established in Calgary, and we saw some fast times last weekend at CODA, anything seems possible! Apolo also said that it's likely that Alex Izykowski will be skating (on Saturday only) in Rusty's place. Rusty was at practice today and plans to skate tomorrow and Sunday. Alex was also there skating today with the rest of the team. I've heard as well that due to her injury, Allison Baver will be skating in the relay only. Shani Davis, who is now training in Calgary, was on hand to watch practice this afternoon also. There are some new additions to the World Cup format this season, starting this weekend in Calgary.* First will be a countdown clock, which will show athletes and spectators alike a countdown in minutes/seconds of how much time remains until the gun goes off for the next race. (Very handy at those times where you're wondering if you have time to make it to the restroom or back to the churro stand!) Second, they're instituting 'relegation' races in between the heats and the semifinals/finals. These are sort of like 'consolation' races that provide an opportunity for athletes who don't advance beyond the heats to gain additional racing experience. (And us fans to see more skating!) *Explanation was somewhat unclear - not sure if this is a Calgary experiment or if it will apply at all 6 World Cups. Posted by noelle | 02:20 AM | Comments [5]Final practice: USA, New Zealand and Belgium Apolo adjusts a block US team at Thursday practice Tony Goskowicz and Misi Toth Rusty, Apolo, Li Yan at practice today A couple links: Olympic Oval roof holey, holey, holey (Canoe.com) World Cup skaters come to U.P. (Ironwood, MI Daily Globe) October 14, 2003 Schedule for World Cup #1 - Calgary Friday, October 17, 2003 Saturday, October 18, 2003 Sunday, October 19, 2003 - begins 12PM, ends 6PM Get full results and rankings at CyberScoreboard.com Watch the races in real time as they unfold on LIVE CyberScoreboard Join the chat at US Short Track Fans Posted by noelle | 11:01 PM | Comments [17]Baltimore Clip 15
This is it - Baltimore clip 15! Many thanks to Linda M, Sonia and Maggie for filming, editing and hosting these clips and making them available to all of us over the past few months. You guys are a great team! Posted by noelle | 08:43 PM | Comments [14]Thanks to Britany for sending 2 more from Peter Reath/ViewCalgary.com's CODA gallery - click thumbnails for full size Apolo and Jo Guilmette skate in the 1500 at TEFKACODA
 Apolo Ohno, Jonathan Guilmette (CAN), Haonan Li (CHN)
Posted by noelle |
04:55 PM
| Comments [6]
 October 13, 2003 Remember the great short track coverage last year from Radio-Canada? Looks like we can look forward to more of the same this season! Here's a reminder from our northern neighbors: "Radio-Canada Sports website will be covering the short track WC season once again from next weekend. Exclusive pictures and interviews of the Canadian team members and other skaters, from Calgary to Bormio, passing by Marquette." http://www.radio-canada.ca/sports/patinagevitesse/index.shtml Posted by noelle | 11:14 PM | Comments [7]Tonight, the World Cup countdown continues - 4 more days!
This looks like the 3000 - Apolo, Rusty and assorted Chinese and Canadian skaters! at the Olympic Anniversary Celebration, SLC October 12, 2003 Calgary World Cup Chat Reminder from April: "While keeping our eyes glued to Live Cyberscoreboard, everyone is invited to come cheer on our US Team through cyber space! Drop by October 17-19 at the US Short Track Fans chat room (hosted by MSN) for a weekend of sharing the opening of the season!" View Conematic race results here (Friday, Saturday, Sunday) Way to go, Shani Davis! He had the fastest time in today's 1000m! More details from US Speedskating: Looks like Apolo scratched from the 1000 today... not sure what happened there. Posted by noelle | 10:29 PM | Comments [17]Three more from Tex These 2 are from Apolo's 1st and 2nd 500m races yesterday. Skaters are Steve Robillard (CAN), Yeran Liu (CHN), Daryl Rasmussen (CAN) and Apolo Apolo, Jiajun Li (CHN), Steve Robillard (CAN) and Daryl Rasmussen (CAN) Apolo and Rusty in a blur |
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