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February 14, 2004
How sweet a sight is this - an all-North American overall World Cup podium. Mathieu Turcotte, Apolo Anton Ohno, and Steve Robillard
Bormio Ghiaccio World Cup overall podium Apolo heaves up his award - reportedly made of marble.
Banquet: Top 6 men for World Cup #6 counterclockwise: Apolo Ohno, Mathieu Turcotte, Steve Robillard, Rusty Smith, Suk-woo Song, Li Jiajun
I have to confess, Suk-woo Song now has at least one American fan. Not only did he manage to not beat Apolo this weekend, but he's got a great fun-loving, crowd-pleasing personality. He won me over in about 15 seconds flat tonight at the banquet. Yeah, I think the Koreans know how to have fun once they step off the ice! Posted by noelle | 07:46 PM | Comments [32]Bormio Banquet: Top 6 Men and Ladies 2003-2004 Suk-woo Song, Apolo Ohno, Hyun-soo Ahn, Ye Li, Eun-kyung Choi, Chun-sa Byun, Meng Wang, Tianyu Fu, CAN coach Martin Gagne stands in for Amelie Goulet-Nadon (though he's not quite as pretty...) Apolo and Hyun-soo were putting all the confetti in Chun-sa's hair tonight...
3000m in Bormio: Rusty Smith, Apolo Ohno, Charles Hamelin, Suk-woo Song
Men's relay bronze medalists Apolo Anton Ohno, Mike Kooreman, J.P. Kepka, Rusty Smith Bormio Day 3: DQs and World Records Galore! I have only a little time before the banquet so pictures will have to wait... but it was another epic day of short track here at Bormio Ghiaccio. I know everyone at home felt as deflated as we did when Apolo didn't make it past his 1000m quarterfinal. He and the Korean were both DQ'ed and the call was for cross-tracking with 5 laps to go, but again, Yuki and the coaches both reviewed the tape and disagreed with it. Some thought the call should have gone against Li Jiajun instead. In any case, Li went on to win gold and broke the 1000m world record in the process (not bad for the old guy), breaking the new WR set just moments earlier by Canadian newcomer Charles Hamelin in his 1000m semi. This was a great weekend for Rusty also, as he competed in his second final, coming close to a second individual medal. He faced a tough heat in the 1000m final and skated a good race. J.P. had a tough time in his opening heat. I'm hazy now on the details but he got knocked far back in the pack out of qualifying position. A subsequent DQ led to his getting advanced to the next round. The ladies also all advanced to the 1000m quarterfinals today with some strong skating. Allison seems to be using strategy to her advantage against some tough Korean and Chinese competitors. Unfortunately, she fell on her own in her 1000m quarterfinal. She's okay but was left with a headache for the remainder of the day. Caroline was also knocked out of her race when traffic impeded her progress, but with the disqualification of 2 skaters, she advanced to the 1000m semifinals. As Yuki later told an Italian newspaper reporter, it's not enough to be good and be strong in short track, you also have to be lucky. This weekend Apolo had his fair share of bad luck, with 2 questionable calls against him yesterday and today. Some other calls brought good luck to other American skaters. Apolo certainly created his own good luck in today's 3000m. That race was an AAO special, where he appeared to be in control of the race from the gun. There was a lot of passing throughout the race, and the 3 Canadians and Song Suk-woo (KOR) all made bids to seize control at various stages, that was without doubt Apolo's race today. Although he didn't finish with a medal, it was wonderful to have Rusty in that race, adding a 2nd USA skinsuit to the pack. The relay was of course icing on the cake - we haven't had our guys on the relay podium for a year now. They sat in second through maybe 1/3 or even 1/2 the race, with Canada far out in front. Canada has been shut out of the top podium position in the relay this season and we expected them to take it out at a fast pace. The battle for a while was with China for third until Italy suffered an unfortunate fall. Shortly after that, China took 2nd for keeps, but it was a fun race to watch, knowing it would result in a medal at the end. With the 3000m results, Apolo became the overall winner of this world cup, with Rusty in 6th overall (equalling his performance in Marquette at World Cup #2). This wasn't quite enough for Apolo to overtake Song for 2nd overall in the season standings, but Apolo is closing this season strong, while the Koreans are starting to appear a bit less dominant than before. Posted by noelle | 01:27 PM | Comments [33]February 13, 2004 Another great day - Bormio Day 2 I guess we don't need to worry about qualifying for the Worlds after today, now do we? Rusty pushes off to Apolo in today's 5000m relay semifinal That was an un****ingbelievable relay. You guys have got to see this race, I don't care who I have to bribe or beg -- that race was amazing. As I reported earlier, moments before the relay semis, Tony had been explaining that we just had to beat Russia to secure our spot. Since our heat was against Korea, China and Russia, it seemed the best we could hope for, but I jokingly said, 'Of course we'll beat Russia. We'll beat Korea too!' I'm so glad to have been right this time! This race is going to add to the legend of Ohno. All of Bormio Ghiaccio was talking of it and I think everyone who was there will talk of it for years to come because of the last lap Apolo put in. Don't get me wrong. The guys skated a sold relay and spent a good third of it in second behind China, but then had a little slip which allowed Korea to overtake both teams. We stayed in the hunt but it looked as though third would be the result, locking in that spot in the Worlds. Then I don't know what happened, but Rusty exchanged to Apolo after the gun and it was like the boy sprouted wings. In one lap Apolo just exploded to the front and finished off the field, with Korea asleep at the wheel. FIRST, BABY! We beat them ALL! Korea was subsequently DQ'ed for impeding (against Apolo) with 26 or 27 laps to go. Shockingly, Korea was shut out of everything today (no Korean men or ladies made it out of the 500m quarterfinals). We'll see the USA in tomorrow's relay final against Canada, Italy and China. Fast but brittle: I heard that Rusty skated an 8.5 second lap today. I also heard that three ladies skated a 500m under 44 seconds, a time which apparently had previously only been achieved by Radanova. So the ice here is really fast. But just like last season in Bormio, it's suffering wear and tear, causing skaters to slip and slide (and wipe out) in 2 specific corners. If you noticed falls, or delays during the heats today, it was due to the ice or ice maintenance taking place. P.S. Sorry to hear you lost Cyberscoreboard! Sources here in Bormio tell me that their ISP back in Boston had a hiccup for an hour and a half or so today. Pity on the timing, but it was out of the control of anyone here in Bormio. Posted by noelle | 07:44 PM | Comments [48]Apolo and Yuki discuss the outcome of Apolo's 500m semifinal start line, 500m prelim in the heatbox Mens 500m Semis & final Real quick... it was a day of mixed emotions. The awesome part was that all 3 of our guys made it to the 500m semis! Not to mention Rusty taking silver in the final. What a thrill to see him back up on the podium! Apolo skated great throughout all his heats. Then his semi came against 1 Canadian and 2 Italians who were extremely eager to perform well on their home ice. Apolo was skating strong and in qualifying position behind the Canadian when both Italian skaters overtook him. He lost a lot of speed at that time and could not catch up with a lap to go. I just ran into Apolo, Yuki, Tony G and Scott Koons discussing what happened. Nicola Franceschina evidently impeded on Apolo, causing contact in his pass which led to Apolo losing a lot of speed and a lot of ground. The US coaches protested afterwards, and the refs initially said Franceschina was DQed. Then they watched the tape and reversed their decision, claiming that when the contact happened, Apolo was not in qualifying position. Having reviewed their own tape, the coaches dispute this claim. Tony had out the rulebook and was going to read it back to the judges though itās too late to change anything this time. Rusty was great in his final! It seemed clear he was expecting to step onto the podium today = only question was which step? He was in medal position most of the race and led for a good lap or so. When Turcotte passed him there was no chance Rusty would finish less than 2nd. Rusty was pretty happy with his results and grinned from ear to ear, congratulating Turcotte and Franceschina both multiple times on the ice. Congratulations to him, itās great to see him up on the medal stand again! Correction to what I posted last night = Tony is now saying that the US menās relay team has to be at least 2nd in their semi today in order to be guaranteed a berth at the Worlds. If they finish last, theyāll be 8th overall and canāt compete, unless Sweden (the host federation) chooses not to enter a relay team. In that case, the spot will go to whichever team is ranked 8th. Posted by noelle | 12:43 PM | Comments [31]Men's 1500m Podium - Bormio 2/12/04 Silver: Song Suk-woo, Gold: Apolo Anton Ohno; bronze: Mathieu Turcotte Start of the men's 1500m Final Song Suk-woo (KOR), Steve Robillard (CAN), Fabio Carta (ITA), Hyun-kon Kim (KOR), Mathieu Turcotte (CAN), Apolo Anton Ohno (USA) 1500m semifinal Nicola Rodigari (ITA), Apolo Ohno (USA), Nam-kyu Cho (KOR), Li Jiajun (CHN), Steve Robillard (CAN), Pieter Gysel (BEL) More from yesterday's 1500 Tony Goskowicz on Apolo's 1500 semifinal: "With two laps to go Apolo made a pass that was really explosive. He looked a step ahead of everyone else today." Tony on Apolo's final: "Apolo started moving up with five laps to go. He made a huge pass on the outside to go over the two Korean skaters and win the race." US Speedskating press release You know, something struck me funny about the people ringing the bell yesterday, they would faintly jingle it early, then ring it loudly a lap later, but the skaters would skate 2 laps after the bell rang. According to Canadian press reports, in both the men's and ladies 1500m finals, the bell was rung 1 lap too early. Apolo Ohno, as quoted by Bormio Ghiaccio yesterday: "He said ,the ice was fast and he was pleased with his result. He loves Italy, this is his fourth time to Bormio, it's a lovely place and the food is great!" I can vouch for the latter 2 items. Posted by noelle | 05:11 AM | Comments [10]February 12, 2004 Start of Apolo's 1500m Heat Peter Darazs (HUN), Apolo Anton Ohno (USA), Matus Uzak (SVK), Andre Pulec (AUT), Pieter Gysel (BEL) A great day... Sorry for the lack of updates! They're coming, I promise. Once those athletes figured out there was a computer with Internet access, I never stood a chance and I couldn't get near it again. But Apolo was masterful out there today - skating as brilliantly as he's ever skated in that last final! Unbelievable. More later, if I have any good pics. It's time for dinner now.... both our relay teams advance to tomorrow's semis, and according to Tony G. the guys at least are already guaranteed a spot at the Worlds in Sweden based on their performance in today's relay. Ciao for now! Okay, I'm back. And I don't even know what to say about Apolo's 1500 semi and final today. They were awesome! In both, he spent a good part of the race hanging out in the back of the pack. In his semi, he moved up with Li Jiajun, who was in front of him, till the time was right to strike. And when the time was right it was all over. Apolo finished his semi in decisive fashion, just like he did in his heat. Apolo leaves the pack laboring in his wake - 1500m semi Rusty had a couple of good races today, but he had a really tough semi and got bumped around a lot and just never made it into qualifying position. In Apolo's final, he slowly moved up... passing from 6th to 5th, then passing Fabio to move into 3rd with just 2 or 3 laps to go. When the bell rang, we were screaming our lungs out, not knowing what would happen, but it was as if Apolo found a new gear at that moment, and just barreled past Turcotte and Song on the outside as though those 2 were standing still. There wasn't a thing they could do about it, but watch and marvel, given the power with which Apolo sailed past them all for the win. I found myself clutching the rail, screaming my head off as I jumped up and down. (No, we're not too shy to cheer here after all.) Apolo slowly gains ground, having passed Carta, and stalking Turcotte, 1500 final Later, Fabio (who had made some sweet passes of his own earlier in the race) said, 'When Apolo heard 'ding-ding-ding' it was like he just woke up, realized it was the bell lap and made his move. Apolo was TOO strong! No one had a chance.' With this win, Apolo officially wraps up 2nd overall for the 1500m distance this season (1st to Ahn, 3rd to Song). Results - Men's 1500m Final 1500 heats It's a large field here and the heats took a while to complete. Unfortunately none of the ladies will advance to the quarterfinals. Kristen Biondo finished a half or so lap behind the pack in her heat. Allison had an incredibly tough heat but skated a great race, close to her personal best, she says. She got bumped a bit, clipping blades with Amanda Overland and later getting hit by Amanda in her right eye (which is visibly red). Caroline looked well positioned to advance but she and Allison were both passed in their races. Mike Kooreman skated in the first heat and his experience shined through, as he executed a lot of smooth passes and just couldnāt hold onto qualifying position through to the end. Rusty skated well and will advance. Apolo false started in his heat, so he held back a beat at the gun to stay safe and skated most of his heat in last. His heat wasnt tough but considering all the traffic he gave us a bit of a heart attack when he waited till so late to make his move. In the end it was effortless and finished miles ahead of the pack. Apolo alone in front in the closing laps of his 1500 heat Warmups 2/12/04 February 11, 2004 Apolo Ohno unveils the new USA team skins - Bormio, 2/11/04 Practice Day, Bormio Wednesday, Feb. 11 It's great to be back in the familiar fold of Bormio Ghiaccio. This is where it all began for me - my love affair with short track! So it's amazing to come back to this place again. Everyone here is so welcoming and friendly and helpful. You can't not feel at home. Team USA skated at 3 today. Jen and I went to watch them, followed by the Italians and the Canadians. The US practice was what we're used to - a few quick bursts of activity followed by lot of milling around on the ice. The most exciting thing to note was that Allison Baver and later Apolo removed their sweatshirts to reveal new US team practice skins: a variation of the BT - shiny silver - with star-spangled sleeves. To be honest, we couldn't tell for sure right away whether they were stars or polka dots. And they're probably a better look for the girls than the guys. One skater told us later they don't like these new skins, and she had refused to take off her sweatshirt. The whole team also has new red USS jackets which look really sharp. Apolo, clearly comfortable in his masculinity We got our first glimpse of newcomer Kristen Biondo (who definitely resembles big brother Ron) and team vet Mike Kooreman, who looks solid out there (very promising for the relay!). Mike seems like a friendly guy and looks younger than his 25 years. Apolo, Allison and Yuki arrived here from Prague in the middle of the night on Tuesday. There was some confusion with their transportation to Bormio and they wound up waiting at the airport several hours for the Canadian and Chinese teams to arrive from Prague so the bus could take them all up to Bormio. They had no complaints though, as they were able to use the time to work on their dryland technique inside the airport terminal and review videotape. Apolo is of course really pleased with his performance in Prague and said he was very happy he made the decision to go, after at times having second-guessed his decision. Clearly it paid off for him, and he is poised to have a great competition here in Bormio, where the ice is apparently fast and he is coming off a great confidence-building weekend. Furthermore, Ahn Hyun-soo, who has already locked up the overall World Cup title this season, won't be skating this weekend. It will take a while to become familiar with the Canadian team again. Familiar returning faces are Amanda Overland, Eric Bedard and Mathieu Turcotte. All the others are new (to us), and youngsters compared to most of the seasoned World Cup skaters from Canada. I'm looking forward to seeing what they can do this weekend. Francois-Louis Tremblay was supposed be here this weekend but he's not, and Darryl Rasmussen is skating in his place. The Korean men were doing some highly entertaining drills before they got on the ice. The best was a team game of leapfrog (only you could see it was not a game for them) where they leaped over one another in succession. I took a mini-movie of this - I'd post if if I wasn't on dial up. We got invited to attend the mysterious draw, which was completely underwhelming after all. They already have the skaters pre-assigned to heats (which are identified by letters starting with A). At the draw they just draw numbers out of a hat (or a velvet pouch, in this case) to determine which order each letter heat is skated in. We did get printed start lists for the 1500m, 500m, 1000m and relays, but this info is available on Cyberscoreboard by now so I won't repeat it here. Apolo's heats are all fine. Some of others drew harder starting heats - especially some of the women. J.P. Kepka, Rusty Smith, and Mike Kooreman - I dunno about J.P.'s getup either Stretching out after practice Apolo and Allison study the heat sheets, Bormio Ghiaccio 2/11/04 Apolo and Yuki study the heat sheets, Bormio Ghiaccio 2/11/04 February 10, 2004 ST-speed-Torino Come join the TORINO 2006 - SHORT TRACK GROUP mailing list --- the place to be if you want to attend the Winter 2006 Olympics in Turin, Italy (Torino) The Winter 2006 Olympics will be held February 10-26, 2006. It's not too This group is sponsored by Julia Agostinelli & Anita Martin Posted by todd | 09:36 AM | Comments [13]February 09, 2004 Bormio World Cup Resources
World Cup #6 takes place Thursday, Feb. 12 - Saturday, February 14. It should be a great culmination to the WC circuit, with all the big guns in attendance, according to the list of competitors (and the grandiose-sounding pronouncements on the Bormio Ghiaccio news page!). Bormio Ghiaccio expects 140 athletes from 23 countries. (The heats will last forever - yay!) There will be a USShortTrackFans.com chat to follow along with World Cup action from Italy. Join the chat here. World Cup schedule: - Cyberscoreboard Next time you hear from me, I'll be in Bormio. I'm hoping to update from there as much as possible, but I don't yet know the Internet situation. In the meantime, Todd is here if you need anything! Yesterday was the 2 year anniversary of the Opening Ceremonies for the 2002 Olympic Winter Games. Thanks to PinkishFunk for this artwork commemorating the occasion!
February 08, 2004 Here are 3 more pics of Apolo from Mlada Boleslav, sent in by Pavel, who was the photographer there this weekend. You can see many more of his WC photos on this web site: ehm.cz
World Allround Championships The day won't be complete without a mention of the outstanding achievements today in Hamar, Norway of Chad Hedrick and Shani Davis, 1st and 2nd respectively at the World Allround Championships. These results represent a major upset of the established order in long track. Congratulations, Chad and Shani! Pics of Apolo's 1000 semi and medal ceremony, fresh from Hugues' camera in Prague Hey look! Each guy wins a case of the house wine! Prague 1000m Medal Podium - just the way we like it Start line: 1000m Semifinal, Prague, 2/8/04 Ohno, Song, Robillard, Franceschina Ready.... 1000m semifinal - Prague 2/8/04 Prague Day 3 - Apolo wins 1000m gold and 3000m bronze; 3rd overall
1000m final: A very close finish to the men's 1000m final with lots of jockeying for position, and an unfortunate DQ for Monette -- but it's Apolo's day today. Way to serve notice, champ! Apolo knew what he was doing when he decided to go to Prague, and it sure looks like he was right! Here's a synopsis from our Prague correspondent: 1000m Final - Men 1000m Final - Ladies 3000m final: There was a lot at stake going into this race, with Apolo and Hyun-soo Ahn tied for 1st overall with 55 points apiece. Apolo stayed within striking position, alternating 2nd, 3rd and 4th for most of the race with Ahn and Suk-woo Song. He made a move into 2nd behind Ahn with 6 laps to go. On the next to last lap, Apolo slipped behind Ahn and Song for good, ultimately finishing 3rd. Apparently aiding Ahn and Song was the 3rd Korean, Seung-jae Lee, whose role may have been to pace his teammates through the first 2/3 of the race (see the splits where Lee led much of the way, then ultimately finished last). 3000m Final - Men You get out what you put in: What a fantastic weekend for Apolo! Though in contention for 1st overall this weekend, he wound up 3rd behind the two Koreans, who after all had both individual talent and team depth at their disposal. Apolo deserves all the credit in the world for putting his money where his mouth is, going for this World Cup with everything he had, and it paid off in spades. This weekend is his best showing all season, despite not having the help of a team and support staff. Congratulations, Apolo! And congratulations, Allison, who despite being DQ'ed in today's 1000m heat, seems to be skating with newfound aggressiveness. You guys made us proud yet again! World Cup #5 overall classification -men World Cup #5 overall classification -ladies Season to date: Finally, this gamble paid off in the bigger picture too: heading into this World Cup, Apolo was ranked #6 overall after four World Cups (1 of which he missed). With his performance this weekend, Apolo has vaulted into 3rd overall, just 2 points behind Korean Song and 10 points behind Ahn: Overall classification after 5 World Cups (men) |
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