SOFIA, Bulgaria (AP)—South Korea has dominated the first day of the short track speedskating world championships.
Yoon-Gy Kwak clocked 2:24.316 minutes to win the men’s 1,500-meter title Friday, leaving the silver and bronze medals to teammates Si-Bak Sung on 2:24.373, and Ho-Suk Lee who took the bronze in a time of 2:24.459.
J.R. Celski of the United States finished fourth, ahead of French skater Thibaut Fauconnet and Travis Jayner of the U.S.
VANCOUVER -- Short track speed skating at the Vancouver Olympics ended up being the Apolo Ohno show. And for good reason.
The men's team pursuit collected Canada's fifth and final long-track speed skating medal of the 2010 Winter Olympic Games on Saturday afternoon, defeating the United States in a head-to-head race for gold at the Richmond Oval.
Heart pounding short track racing continued this evening with some great outcomes for the US and tons of excitement for those watching.
The final four in the women’s short track were Katherine Reutter of the US, Wang Meng and Zhou Yang of China, and Park Seung-Hi of South Korea. There were no false starts and no big crashes, but after being passed, something happened to Yang and she dropped back far behind the other 3 skaters. It didn’t look like anything big; perhaps she just lost her stride and couldn’t get her momentum back. Wang Meng, the bright star of short track this Olympics, held a strong lead the entire race, barely bothered by those behind her. She finished gold, making her the 1st woman to win 6 medals in short track and China the 1st country to sweep all the women’s short track events. A jubilant Reutter got her skate over the line second for silver, and Park Seung-Hi got bronze.
The 45 laps of the men’s short track team relay looks like a well-choreographed dance during the exchanges. They don’t actually pass a baton, just touch, then the old skater shoves the new skater forward to try and gain ground. Each skater must only skate 1 lap, so you can plan a strategy around who’s stronger and make exchanges accordingly
The final race for the 500m short track had an explosive ending. I swear, it looked more like roller derby than short track. Apolo Ohno started behind, struggling to pass, the other skaters holding in a tight formation. All of a sudden, just a few feet before the finish line Ohno touched Francois-Louis Tremblay of Canada, in an effort to pass and Tremblay went down. Immediately after, South Korean skater, Sung Si-Bak, almost caught his hand under Canadian Charles Hamelin’s skate and fell just inches from the finish. Tripped up by Si-Bak, Hamelin awkwardly wobbled across the finish line first, ending up backward on the ice. It wasn’t pretty, but it was worth gold.
It looked like second place would go to a shocked Ohno, but after close examination, he was disqualified and denied the silver. It looked to me like Ohno barely touched him, but you never know, he may be a great actor. After watching short track this year, it looks like they all try to slide in as much contact as they can without the judges seeing.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP)—Apolo Anton Ohno has been disqualified in the 500-meter short track speedskating final, apparently for causing a crash in the last turn.
Ohno crossed the finish line second behind Canada’s Charles Hamelin, whose momentum spun him into the middle of the ice as the race ended Friday night.
Ohno was last when he tried to go inside of Canadian Francois-Louis Tremblay on the final turn. The American’s right leg appeared to hit Tremblay and sent him crashing into the padding.
Vancouver (AFP) - China ended South Korea's winning streak in the Olympic women's short-track 3,000m relay with a world record time and in controversy at the Vancouver Games on Wednesday.
South Korea finished first in the final but they were disqualified after referees ruled that Kim Min-Jung blocked China's Sun Linlin's path following a handover with six laps to go.
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) -- Police have arrested a South Korean accused of threatening to blow up the Australian Embassy in Seoul because of a decision made by an Australian judge at the Olympics.
The man, identified only by his surname, Kim, told investigators he was upset after Australian referee Jim Hewish disqualified the South Korean team in the women's 3,000-meter relay after they finished first. The four-time defending Olympic champions were disqualified for impeding, having clicked skates with China just after an exchange with five laps to go.
Short track is the best sport if you have a short attention span.
Take the 500m qualifying races today. Generally, you’re looking at 40-45 seconds. Come on, you can pay attention for 40 seconds.
VANCOUVER ' There were no Drew Barrymore or Ellen Page sightings at the Pacific Coliseum Tuesday. But all the other elements of the 2009 roller derby film Whip It seemed to be accounted for as the Canadian women's relay team practised.
There was the attractive pack of helmeted ladies racing around a tiny oval. There was the potential for body contact and bruising. There was even the sling slot method of boosting a teammate up the ice.
