Ohno Zone

World Cup Day 3 and Monday Morning (by SusanG)

Noelle has already covered the results of the Madison World Cup well. I want to add some color to the stories.

Comfort: Can you say Veteran's Memorial Coliseum? The temperature was as comfortable as the SLC Oval, a warm sweater was sufficient. Even better, the seats were theater seats, cushioned and comfy. Many thanks go to "The Jeffs," Jeff Fitzrandolph and Jeff O., who co-chaired the event on short notice.

The lack of crowds, which was a disappointment to all, seemed partially due to a lack of publicity. This was the response of several local people I asked. However Jeff O. had never even SEEN a World Cup, and was now responsible for organizing one! I say "Hats off for a job well done on short notice." And "Boo" to the people of Madison who would rather watch Hockey!

We had about 500 people Friday, perhaps 2100 on Saturday and maybe 1800 on Sunday. The fans split into several groups. Deb, her patient hubby Bob, Pattie and I sat in front of Brad and Dixie Baver. This was the BEST place to be, for Brad yelled out "Outside!" whenever a skater got ready to pass an American. And other comments such as "Cross tracking!", "Impeding!" and later, with Allison sitting with them, "False start!" Brad is a big guy. When he talks people hear. :)

Sue, Linda M and Barb sat down on the first row, where Sue reported that several 15 year old girls were swooning madly over Faabbiioooo. She took pictures of Fabio Carta for the young ladies.

CyberscoreBoard and comments from bystanders can't begin to describe Apolo in motion. His ability to slip in and out of a crowded pack, weaving his way to the front, is grace and poetry in motion. No matter how crowded the traffic he finds a way through. Had Apolo been in any other lane than 4 for the 500m final, Mathieu Turcotte would not have won by the tip of a skate blade.

Typically Apolo sets up his pass by building speed over a lap or so. He then pivots and slingshots around the turn giving him a tremendous speed down the straightaway. The inside passes there are amazing. He seems to slip by when the skater is shifting his entire body weight to the right skate, but how he slips by the recovering left skate is beyond me. The pass then puts him into position to slip into a "hole" in the skaters in the turn. But the amazing thing is that his whole body just seems to levitate sideways into the hole.

This was the move Allison was attempting when she was DQ'd in the 1000m race. She started her pass on the straightaway too late, and had no room to slip into a hole between skaters. But given her strong skating I'm sure she will perfect the move. Allison is skating strongly, more consistently than last year, and only needs to perfect these difficult maneuvers.

Hallie Kim is going to be "making thunder" for Team USA for a long time. Her performance in the 1000m final look flawless to me. Once she made her move with a strong outside pass there was no catching her. The pack tried to chase her down the last three laps but Kim held on to the lead with no apparent effort. From the stands she appears as a powerful skater, with great endurance as well as strength. Her mistakes are those of a young skater. I can't imagine how she felt when her idol, Yang Yang A, was DQ'd for impeding her.

Hallie Kim's valiant effort to recover from another skater's slip that cost them the lead in the women's relay was amazing. She skated the last two laps giving it everything, gradually eating away at the lost ground until Team USA was within 3 one-thousands of a second of securing that 2nd place finish. That was hard. Mathieu Turcotte beat Apolo for the gold in about the same time.

This tournament had a relaxed feel, and indeed as I rode to the airport with the Aussie team this morning they too said that without the Koreans the atmosphere was more relaxed and fun. I think "Fun" and "Awesome racing" summed up this weekend. It was good to see "Our Brothers (and Sister) to the North" up on that podium. And I've got to say this now: Mathieu Turcotte is a certified, bona-fide hottie. He's about Apolo's size and really cute. I'll send in a pic of Team Canada hamming it up for the camera to prove it!

The banquet room at the Sheraton was the best yet. Warm physically and smaller and more intimate than the big dark room in Marquette. There was a lot of light, tables pretty close together, an excellent dinner and fresh greens and flowers on the tables. When Jeff Fitzrandolph tried to get the officials to head to the buffet first they declined. Then he tried to get the fans "who had spent money to come here" to go. But everyone yelled, "Skaters first!" and so they did. After the afternoon's races they needed it!

Barb had brought Allison her favorite candy, and I'm including a picture of her with Sue and Allison. Allison had already received a big goodie bag full of useful stuff, and homemade cookies. :)

My friend and fellow Nor Cal Skater Nick Ah Kun, from South Africa, hung out with us this weekend. His goal was a picture with Alanna Kraus (nope missed that) and autographs of skaters on his boots. I've included pictures of Nick with Apolo, but he was equally anxious to get Yang Yang A's autograph on his boots. Apolo looked surprised when I told him Nick was a South African speedskater!

Team Canada was in good spirits, and Jonathan Guilmette skated lightly and with the speed of light. He almost seemed insubstantial on that ice, and the entire team's effort to break the relay World Record was …well, I'm running out of words! (Amazing...) But to see them skating lap after lap below 9.0 was pretty unbelievable. Finally, I took a picture of the Dutch team, who kept trying to convince me they were the Chinese! I have difficulty recognizing them without their helmets, but really. :)

Finally, I saw Rusty standing in line with the rest of the team at the airport this morning. He didn't want to talk, but then it was 5:00 a.m. and everyone looked a bit rough. He was under his own power though and I heard he spent the weekend on his back in the hotel. Here's hoping to a quick recovery for the Rustinator! And yes, I did get aholt of Andy Gabel right after Rusty's fall and demanded to know why there wasn't a 5th skater. I wasn't satisfied with the answer and let him know. We're a united front on this issue.

-- SusanG, who wants to go to all the WCs.