Apolo Ohno to Compete at World Cup #5

Exciting news! Apolo will compete at World Cup #5 next weekend in Mladá Boleslav, Czech Republic. He is financing this trip entirely on his own. Being able to compete at the final 2 World Cups of the season is very important to Apolo after having to skip World Cup #3 last November. Unfortunately, the remainder of the U.S. team will compete only at World Cup #6, as previously announced, due to the funding shortfall at US Speedskating.

Marquette Photo Gallery #2

The latest photo gallery is complete, from day 2 in Marquette. This one has a lot of Apolo, including the 5 shots below.
View Marquette Gallery #2

Apolo skates in his 500 semi in Marquette

Apolo Ohno and Denis Zaslavsky at the start line

leading in the 500m semifinal

You can see the rest of the gallery here: Marquette Gallery #2

Thanks to Anita for sending this in so we can put faces to names. This is the US Junior World Team that went to Beijing earlier this month. Image courtesy of Jerry Search.

Back Row: Coach Adam Reidy, Anthony Lobello, Nicholas Frank, Ryan Bedford, Coach Scott Koons, Jack Mortell.
Front Row: Kristen Biondo, Halie (HyoJung) Kim, Jade Wheeler.

Here's the first information I've come across about new U.S. junior Anthony Lobello, who represented the U.S. earlier this month at Junior Worlds in Beijing:

Lobello adjusts to skating on ice
via Tallahassee Democrat
"A year ago, Anthony Lobello wasn't more than a blip on Scott Koons' radar. But Koons, coach of the U.S. national team, will tell you now that Lobello is one of the brightest prospects racing on ice since he made the transition [from inline skating] last June." Full article

Kim Dong-sung Will Still Compete in NWSF
via Korea Times
"Short-track speed skater Kim Dong-sung is confirmed to attend the National Winter Sports Festival (NWSF) next month, shaking off doubts that he would give up his come-back race due to his arrest for drunk driving." Full article

Video Clip: 1500 final, Calgary World Cup
part 1 of 2

Download here

Thanks to Janet, Maggie, Mylène and Sonia!

Canadian Post Open Championships Day 4: World Team Selected

The results are in from British Columbia, and they represent something of a changing of the guard on the men's side. Those of you going to Sweden in March will see some new faces representing Canada at the World Championships. Gone are Jeff Scholten, Eric Bedard and Annie Perreault (I think she's retired, though).

Montreal teenager Steve Robillard began a new chapter in his career on Sunday as he won the men’s overall national title while 11-season veteran Tania Vicent earned her first career women’s crown at the 2004 Canada Post Open Championships.

The World team members are the top 5 overall finishers in the Canadian Championships:

Canadian World Team
Ladies: Tania Vicent, Amelie Goulet-Nadon, Alanna Kraus, Amanda Overland, Anouk Leblanc-Boucher
Men: Jonathan Guilmette, Steve Robillard, Jean-Francois Monette, Mathieu Turcotte, Charles Hamelin

- Robillard has been knocking on the door for a few years now. He was 4th at Junior Worlds in 2002 and held world records in the 1000m, 1500m AND 3000m until they were shattered this year by Monette (1000m) and Hyun-soo Ahn (1500m and 3000m).*
*I think. It's hard to keep track anymore! Anyway, he's fast.
- Hamelin finished 4th overall at Junior Worlds in 2003.
- Leblanc-Boucher in her turn took 4th overall at this year's Junior Worlds held earlier this month in Beijing.

Results of today's 1000m and 3000m follow.

1000m Ladies
1. Tania Vicent, Montreal, 1:34.220
2. Amélie Goulet-Nadon, Laval, Que., 1:34.290
3. Alanna Kraus, Abbotsford, B.C., 1:34.334
4. Amanda Overland, Kitchener, Ont., 1:35.212

3000m Ladies
1. Vicent, 5:31.724
2. Goulet-Nadon, 5:32.628
3. Overland, 5:33.156
4. Kraus, 5:33.214
5. Kalyna Roberge, Ste-Étienne-de-Lauzon, Que., 5:33.398
6. Chantale Sévigny, Sherbrooke, Que., 5:33.966
7. Mélanie Gagnon, 5:35.210
8. Anouk Leblanc-Boucher, Montreal, 5:40.714

1000m Men
1. Jean-Francois Monette, Pointe-aux-Trembles, Que., 1:28.258
2. Charles Hamelin, Ste-Julie, Que., 1:28.354
3. Jonathan Guilmette, Montreal, 1:28.498
4. Steve Robillard, Montreal, 1:28.656

3000m Men
1. Guilmette, 5:15.963
2. Mathieu Turcotte, Sherbrooke, Que., 5:15.997
3. Robillard, 5:16.075
4. Francois-Louis Tremblay, Boucherville, Que., 5:16.127
5. Hamelin, 5:16.139
6. Monette, 5:16.285
7. Éric Bédard, Ste-Thècle, Que., 5:16.593
8. Daryl Rasmussen, Prince George, B.C., 5:28.129

Canadian Post Open Championships Day 3

Interesting results in the ladies 500m yesterday - the A final was won by 19 year old up-and-comer Anouk Leblanc-Boucher, who also won the 500m earlier this month at Junior Worlds in Beijing. Somewhat more predictably, current 500m world record holder Jeff Monette emerged as the men's 500m victor.

Ladies 500m final
1. Anouk Leblanc-Boucher 46.682
2. Tania Vicent 46.772
3. Jo-Anne Maclean 46.870
4. Melanie Gagnon 46.954
5. Kalyna Roberge 46.970

- Amanda Overland won the ladies' B final, with Anne Maltais second. Alanna Kraus won the C final. Amelie Goulet-Nadon finished first in the D final.

Men 500m final
1. Jeff Monette 42.421
2. Eric Bedard 42.491
3. Steve Robillard 42.543
4. Francois-Louis Tremblay 42.695

- Mathieu Turcotte was the winner of the B final, in which Jonathan Guilmette came in 4th. Jeff Scholten was 1st in the E final.

Ladies: Vicent (1,816 points), Leblanc-Boucher (1,070 pts), Overland (1,028 pts), Kraus (976 pts).

Men: Robillard (1,666 pts), Monette (1,295 pts), Bedard (976 pts).

I'm too lazy to do the math to figure out how skaters stand when these results are combined with results from Trials #1, but I will predict that Monette, Guilmette, Robillard and Vicent all seem like shoo-ins to make the World team, while Scholten unfortunately appears to be out of the running. Still, there is a lot of racing still to be done!