Congratulations, Shani Davis - 1500m World Champion!

Winner Shani Davis of the United States poses with silver medalist Mark Tuitert of the Netherlands and bronze medalist Erben Wennemars of the Netherlands on the podium during an award ceremony for the men's 1,500-meter event in the World Single Distances Speedskating Championships at Taeneung International Ice Rink in Seoul Saturday, March 13, 2004. (AP Photo/Yun Jai-hyoung)

More info: Davis Wins 1500-Meter Gold at World Single Distance Championships

But please save some energy for Sweden! ;)

World Teams

That mysterious competition known as the World Team Championships takes place this weekend (March 13-14) in St Petersburg, Russia. For more information, see World Short Track's World Team Ch. primer.

While the U.S. won't be in attendance, all the other big guns will be there and Live Cyberscoreboard will cover the action if you crave a short track fix before next weekend (and can handle the times).

Saturday 3/13 Schedule
Bracket One start time: 1AM ET Saturday/10PM PT Friday
Bracket Two start time: 5AM ET Saturday/2AM PT Saturday
Repechage start time: 10AM ET Saturday/7AM ET Saturday

Sunday 3/14 Schedule
Finals start time: 7AM ET Sunday/4AM PT Sunday

World Teams Press Coverage

via Korea Times:
"Head coaches Kim Ki-hoon and Kim So-hee plan to use the [World Team Championships] to help pick the skaters who will compete at the World Championships, which is expected to motivate and accelerate the competition within the teams." full article

Jonathan Guilmette web site

There's another new short track web site in town - JonathanGuilmette.com recently launched, with personal participation from Jo and lots more. It's good to finally have a site for a Canadian skater!

Alternative link: JonathanGuilmette.tripod.com

Twelve year old Baillie has kindly shared her photos and experiences from seeing short track and meeting Apolo for the first time at last month's U.S. Short Track Championships. Glad you had such a great time, Baillie!

Baillie and Apolo in Cleveland

Read Baillie's Cleveland report

UPDATE: Bryan Kubota, image courtesy of Lupe

Ohno keeping things cool

"Remember Apolo Anton Ohno, the 2002 Winter Olympian with the soul patch who was supposed to turn short track speedskating into the hippest sport on ice?

Well, Michelle Kwan and Roberto Luongo needn't worry about being supplanted. Short track has made some gains, but it's still down there with curling in terms of its appeal among Americans who haven't figured out the difference between luge and skeleton." Full article
via Miami Herald

Uh, who's Robert Luongo?

From today's Boston Globe:

"Slim medal chances for the US short-trackers at next weekend's world team championships in Russia. The South Koreans, Chinese, and Canadians figure to dominate the podium, with the Yanks ranked fifth in both the men's and women's events. There's a better chance of a medal at the subsequent individual championships in Sweden, where Olympic champ Apolo Anton Ohno is ranked third behind Korea's Ahn Hyun Soo and Song Suk Woo. Natick's Caroline Hallisey, 14th in the standings, is the top American woman."

Slim chances indeed -- the U.S. team won't be competing at the World Teams.

Thanks to Cheryl for this great shot of Apolo!