Here are a couple shots from Apolo's press conference at the end of today's World Cup action:

From US Speedskating:

Ohno Wins 500-meter Event at World Cup
"I wasn't planning on going from start to finish in first," said Ohno. "In the 500, you race the first half lap hard and it just happened that I was able to stay in front the entire way. I was bumped in the second to last turn and was able to stay on my feet."

"Apolo controlled the race perfectly today," said U.S. National Coach Tony Goskowicz. "He didn't go all out at the start, and he hit the brakes a little bit when he had to so China's Li Jiajun couldn't pass. Then once he got over the top it was all over." Read more

Sweet Victory!

Ahn, Ohno, Lee

Apolo is back where he belongs on the top spot of the podium -- best of all, in the 500! WAY TO GO, Apolo!

I wish all of you could have seen it in person, and heard and felt the energy and excitement of the crowd. Apolo had us all on our feet, screaming, jumping up and down. After he won he circled the rink slapping our hands. Yeah, he's happy!

Apolo roars ahead of Li Jiajun during his 500 final

Two more shots from the podium

Apolo, roaring through his 1500 semi

Apolo at the startline for his 1500 semi

The 500 semi was amazing. Apolo was in total control for most of the race. Li Jiajun made an awesome pass to take the lead and then Eric Bedard (CAN) also slipped by with less than a lap to go. Apolo was pushed to the outside and fourth position. He eased up at that point, as he must have known that Bedard would be DQ'ed for impeding.

What a final! Ohno, Ahn (KOR), Lee (KOR), Li (CHN) and Terao (JPN) -- really happy to see Terao make the final~!~

500 Prelims

These were pretty uneventful till Rusty's heat. Then there was a 3-man pileup going into the last lap, and the refs stopped the race. I've never seen that happen before. The French skater at the bottom of the pile was taken off the ice in a stretcher and meanwhile the others had to skate aimlessly, trying to keep warm, while waiting for the race to be re-run. Rusty seems to have more than his fair share of unlucky race circumstances. I really felt badly for all of them to have to re-run the race. In any case, both Rusty and Apolo will both advance.

At the start of the 1500 final

Start of the 1500m final

Next three from warmups Saturday morning in Marquette

Here is today's Marquette Mining Journal World Cup coverage:

Ohno! It’s Apolo mania in Marquette
(Joanna and I were both interviewed for this article, and check out the pic of Lupe with her sign!)

Korea rules on Day 1: Women take top 3 slots; record set in men’s race

Fans cheer overseas skaters

US Men to Skate in Relay Semis on Saturday

Not sure if those watching at home are aware that the U.S. men will skate in tomorrow's relay semifinals in spite of their third-place finish tonight. They were one of the two fastest third-place teams, which qualifies them to advance.

The bad news is that they drew another tough heat, against Korea, Canada and Japan.

1500 Final - Apolo wins bronze
Updated

Three Koreans in both the men's and ladies' final. You know what that means! Amelie Goulet-Nadon tried to break through that wall and succeeded briefly but then lost her position.

Apolo knew from the beginning what he was facing, and that he was pretty much alone in challenging a team of 3 Koreans. He skated with such heart and kept the three apart through most of that race. He constantly fought back and kept himself between the three of them, and the passes he made were amazing. He looked solid for a gold or silver, but maybe the non-stop effort of punching holes in the Korean wall did him in, because he was passed in the last 2 laps by the field. Crossing the line in 4th and with the DQs of 1 Korean and Li Jiajun (CHN) Apolo once again receives 1500 bronze.

Bravo Apolo on an extremely courageous race!! Apolo won the medals for everyone in that race.

Exciting notes:

1) Ahn set a NEW WORLD RECORD of 2:10.639 here in Marquette, in one of his heats, beating the mark currently held by Steve Robillard (CAN).

2) Apolo set a new American record tonight in the 1500, beating Alex Izykowski's record with a time of 2:11.280.

1500 Semis

Apolo raced another awesome 1500 and played it safe at the end to qualify for the final behind Lee (KOR). He made a great pass with about 5 laps to go which had the crowd on its feet. Rusty too made an amazing pass with 4 laps to go in his semi to pass from 4th to 2nd, but it may have been just a bit too early as he was then passed with 2 laps to go and finished out of qualification. Fabio met a similar fate in his semifinal.

The ladies skated solid races but won't qualify for the final. I didn't see what Allison did that disqualified her in her race.

1500 Heats

The ladies' and men's heats just concluded. Unfortunately, JP fell in his heat - not too sure what happened there - and Maria, who started strong, won't advance. Allison Baver finished third in her heat and will advance. Caroline qualified in second in her heat.

Apolo and Rusty both skated great heats. Apolo skated in last through most of the race before making his move with 4-5 laps to go and finished first. He was in command the whole way. Rusty came from behind after a couple passing maneuvers to finish second. Fabio Carta also skated from behind and finish second in his heat. He's also got his own cheering section here (mostly us OZers!).

Blair sent in this photo of herself and Apolo, taken last week in Calgary!

Thanks to Kelly M for sending in these 3 AP shots from Calgary:

A couple articles from today's Marquette Mining Journal:

Skaters inspire area grade school students

30, 40, 50 mph ... how fast can they go?

“Fans will have the time of their lives,” Ohno said. “Once you see it, you understand how fast short track is and what all the excitement is about.”

I love our team!!!

It seems like Marquette is embracing Team USA just as Bay City did last year for the US Championships. From wluctv6.com:

Reception Held For Speed Skaters

The city of Marquette is welcoming speed skaters from around the world for this weekend's speed skating World Cup. Last night members of the United States team attended a reception in their honor. The speed skaters arrived just a few days ago to continue their training at the Berry Events Center. Since day one, the Olympians say the community has shown great support for the team.

Olympian Apolo Ohno says, "This is a big deal. World Cup international event. We have countries, Korea, china, Canada, Austria, Slovakia, Israel. You name it and they're here. So for us this is a big deal and to have a community embrace that and understand and to be there for the support of the U.S. team is just phenomenal."

The actual speed skating events will kick off October 24 at the Berry Events Center and run through October 26.

Here are a few shots of Apolo from today's team practice in Marquette:

More Calgary Pics

There are more Apolo/Calgary pics up at ViewCalgary.com (thanks Britany!)

Also, there are actual short track pics on the ISU's web site, including one of Apolo's DQ for impeding in the 1000 final (thanks Kelly M!)

Hey everyone!

You can find the Marquette World Cup schedule of races here:
http://worldcup.nmu.edu/schedule/

Here's a pic of Apolo and Joanna, taken on Sunday night at Tantra:

Things are looking up for the USOEC in Marquette:

DETROIT - The U.S. Olympic Education Center in Marquette is still in the midst of a financial crisis, but the situation is much better than it was before [after having secured funding] to help keep the center operating through fiscal year 2005. Read more

Scenes from Sunday night's awards party at Tantra in Calgary

Ohno, Carta, Scholten

What Apolo had to say...

Apolo came and chatted with Erina, Joanna and me a few minutes ago. He doesn't sound too disappointed with this weekend, and noted that the Koreans all come out very strong the first WC of the season because they resume training as soon as they get home from Worlds. Apolo just said that more training for him and the U.S. team is needed.

I asked him who he saw as his main competition this season, and he mentioned the usual suspects - Korea, Canada and China. He mentioned Li Jiajun and said he wasn't sure what was going on with him since he had a surprisingly weak performance this weekend.

He was happy with the ice here, as always, and was amazed by Monette's performance in the 500 on Sat. He really hoped everyone had a good time this weekend in spite of less than stellar results from Team USA, and he was really excited to hear about how many fans are expected next weekend in MQT. The team leaves very early tomorrow morning for MQT and will arrive very late at night. (Sounds familiar!)

I asked Apolo for predictions of the World Cup team after the trials in Nov. but he wasn't willing to say who he thought it would be, beyond himself and Rusty, since they both have byes.

Apolo is eager to review tape of his 1000 final. What looked to me like obvious impeding by Apolo may not have been, as Yuki said he looked at the tape and thinks Apolo made a clean, inside pass, but Ahn was the one who initiated contact by moving out his arm in some way. So I think that is Apolo's biggest disappointment of the weekend. He also said the 500 was a disappointment also, as he knew he was capable of doing more.

Apolo mentioned that the facility in Marquette has concrete behind the pads, rather than the usual wooden boards, so there is a greater fear of falling there than here in Calgary.

1000 and 3000 Final

Well, it's just not our day or weekend. Apolo skated well in the 1000 but he was DQ'ed with an obvious move on Ahn. It was exciting to watch him skate that race but the knowledge of what was to come made it kind of hollow.

The 3000 started off with a bang as Monette and Lee immediately went to the front and lapped the pack. Apolo's strategy seemed to be to stay with Ahn for 3rd place and in the last few laps it looked as though Apolo had it. He made some great passes during that race, but Ahn took the lead back with a lap to go.

Team skating could be a factor here too with both Koreans in the race, one started off fast with the pack-lapping strategy, the other stayed with the pack, and they got their first and third. The Canadians hedged their bets in a similar fashion, although past experience makes you suspect that one team had a plan in place.

The ladies' 3000 was the opposite of the men's. It started off in slow motion and was recalled after a couple of laps for being too slow.

And that was that. Wait till Marquette!! This is just the first World Cup of the season, after all.

1000m Heats and Quarterfinals

An exciting morning so far! Apolo has had two quiet 1000 heats -- so far, so good. There isn't too much to say, but in this case, that's a GOOD thing. He lucked out with a relatively easy quarterfinal. Rusty, who returned to Calgary last night, skated an awesome 1000 heat with some great passing, but he had a very tough quarterfinal. He finished 3rd but was later DQ'ed, although I'm really not sure why.

Fabio Carta also skated a fabio-lous 1000 heat, and made some great passes, but also got beat out in his quarter.

Caroline was the only U.S. lady to make it into the quarterfinals, but unfortunately, I had to miss the ladies' quarterfinals so I'm not sure what happened in her race.

There are Peter Reath pics from the Calgary World Cup up now at ViewCalgary.com.

Check out the third one from the top called 'clash of cultures'!! What a shot.

U.S. men preparing for relay semifinal Saturday, Oct. 18

5000m semifinal

The 5000 semi last night was pretty much as wild as the 500 semis were. Someone later remarked that the U.S. men looked like the Keystone Kops out there. Not knowing who the Keystone Kops are, I can't say for sure, but I think the comparison may have been on the money! We lost to France last night. UGH!

To add insult to injury, the U.S. got DQ'ed after the race ended for failing to complete the exchange. After one of the U.S. men fell, the next skater didn't tag him before beginning to skate. Looked like they one-handed several exchanges elsewhere too. I hate to say this, but it just wasn't a pretty sight! Entertaining, I think some of the skaters were even laughing out there, but not really entertaining in the way you would want it to be.

There's always Marquette!