Zamboni's preparing the ice at the Vancouver Olympic oval {Editor: The above photo caption should read Olympia brand ice machines prepare surface at Richmond Olympic oval. We now know that they weren't Zamboni brand machines. Feb 20, 2010.]
Since the NBC networks have started their hype for the upcoming 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Canada, its only time I start too. And its about 60 degrees (15.5 C) in much of the US, so no outdoor skating anytime soon, although I note that a few places did manage some natural ice in October in Montana at the reservoirs. Congratulations to the US Olympic Short Track Speed Skating team which was chosen (or nominated, more accurately) at the trials in September. On the Men's side, Apolo Ohno is joined by Jordan Malone (TX), Travis Jayner (MI), and Simon Cho (MD) while JR Celski (WA) qualified but will need to heal due to a serious injury suffered near the conclusion of the event. On the Women's side, Katherine Reutter of Champaign, IL leads the women--subsequent to the US qualifier she has gotten two golds this season at World Cup events already. Along with Katherine, Alyson Dudek (WI), Kimberly Derick (TN), Allison Baver (PA) and Lana Gehring (Glenview, IL) round out the team. Jeff Simon, Anthony Lobello, and Jessica Smith also qualified for the World Cup team events (but not Vancouver). The actual roster will depend on the of two World Cup meets, the first of which concluded this past weekend in Montreal and the other will take place in Marquette, MI beginning this Thursday and concluding on the 15th of November. According to the head of US Speedskating, for all 10 to go to Vancouver, they'd "...need to qualify both a men's and women's relay team..." (see the link above about the trials)--otherwise, 3 skaters go instead of 5. At each individual distance, from 1 to 3 US skaters will be in any given event, a minimum of 1 (assuming they qualify for the relay) and up to 3 if they qualify individually this fall. I also believe a 6th skater can join the team in Vancouver as an alternate. For Long Track Speed Skating, the World Cup team was determined in Milwaukee at a meet held in late October. The next step to Vancouver is to determine how many spots the US team will have, which will be determined from World Cup events: Berlin (Nov 6 - 8), Heerenveen (Nov 13 - 15), Calgary (Dec 4 - 6), Salt Lake City (Dec 11 - 13) while the longer distance events will also utilize results from the event at Hamar (Nov 21 - 22). In addition, the skaters must have met a given distance's minimum qualifying time at one of the events listed above or at an officially sanctioned competition this season. "The US can have up to four spots in the 500m, 1000m, and 1500m, and up to three spots in the 3K/5K and 5K/10K," according to an article in US Speedskating's magazine. The final qualifier will be held December 26 - 30 in Salt Lake City. (Besides the qualifiers, I don't know yet how they handle the alternates, how many per nation, etc., as these skaters still 'go' to Vancouver and may skate in the case of injury or other reason. For instance, after a slip in the 500m and a third and possibly final missed chance at Olympic gold, Dan Jansen opted out of his spot to skate in the 1500m at Lillehammer in 1994--so as to instead focus on his last, best shot for Olympic gold, which ultimately was a famous gold / world record success in the 1000m held a few days later--another skater, in that case KC Boutiette, skated in the 1500m.) As with getting to the final roster for Short Track events, getting to the final roster for Long Track can make for more excitement at the World Cup meets so watch for results at US Speedskating's website, speedskatingresults.com or best of all, broadcasts of the World Cup events on Universal Sports television or news / video clips on Universal Sports website's Short Track and Speed Skating pages (the website has a lot of news features as well). Already, Shani Davis has continued where he left off with two golds in the 1,000 and 1,500 meter events last weekend in Berlin while Tucker Fredricks won his 500m race there. This weekend they'll journey to the Netherlands to the indoor oval at Heerenveen. Good luck in the World Cup and then on to Vancouver for US Long Track speed skaters: Mens 500m: Tucker Fredricks (WI), Brent Aussprung (WI), Shani Davis (Chicago, IL), Nick Pearson (WI), and Matt Plummer (St. Louis, MO) Ladies 500m: Elli Ochowicz (CA), Heather Richardson (NC), Jennifer Rodriguez (FL), Lauren Cholewinski (SC), Rebekah Bradford (MN) Mens 1000m: Davis, Chad Hedrick (TX), Pearson, Trevor Marsicano (NY), Jonathan Kuck (Champaign, IL) Ladies 1000m: Rodriguez, Richardson, Ochowicz, Bradford, Jilleanne Rookard (MI) Mens 1500m: Hedrick, Davis, Marsicano, Kuck, Brian Hansen (Chicago, IL) Ladies 1500m: Rodriguez, Rookard, Maria Lamb (WI), Nancy Swider-Peltz (Chicago, IL), Catherine Raney-Norman (WI) Mens 5000m / 10,000m Davis, Kuck, Hedrick, Hansen, Ryan Bedford (MI) Ladies 3000m / 5000m Rookard, Lamb, Raney-Norman, Swider-Peltz
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Editor - JimThis blog weighs in on topics such as long-distance skating, the Illinois canals, cycling, and a variety of related (and occasionally not-so-related) topics. I'd like to correspond with others interested in skating the Hennepin and I&M canals. Archives
November 2020
Categories |