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Post by sk8er on Jan 5, 2014 16:07:33 GMT -8
I know Jordan is happy sking the 500m, though the 1000 is really his race. I was just on the edge of my seat throughout the races today! I met Kyle Carr at the WC competition in Budapest in about 2007 and he was so young, but skating really well. I'm thrilled for him! And Travis Jayner was so gutsy, giving it all he could but it wasn't meant to be. How very classy of J.R. to mention Jeff Simon and his abilities in the interview. Allison Baver's win in the C final was bittersweet....though unlikely she really tried to make her 4th Olympic team and gave 4 years to attempts there and with long track. I still think that with her wide experience and solid skating we might have sent a women's relay team to the Olympics had she skated the World Cups. I really miss skating despite my very limited ability. Someone had to be the caboose and watching these skaters really got my heart racing. Apolo was excellent as a commentator and I can't wait for Sochi. I think sports commentating may be his niche, but please.....get Dad to work on the hair! Laura thanks for all you have done to keep this site going. You have really made a difference for many young skaters and their families as well as for the sport. Shout out to Trisha!
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Post by Laura (Lori) on Jan 5, 2014 21:26:28 GMT -8
Thanks everyone for your contributions - and welcome back, trisha! It's been a long week - and we have a long drive home tomorrow. I'll be checking in, but I'll probably take a day or two off of posting (unless something really urgent comes up). I'm sure there will be lots of post-Trials news - feel free to post anything you think will be of interest to other fans!
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Post by mtnme on Jan 6, 2014 2:34:48 GMT -8
So much great stuff being posted. Youtube has quite a few videos of this weekends races, including this clip of the race that had Chris Creveling penalized. Yeah, at first blush, I'd be asking where did he impede too? More videos available on youtube of the competition. (Which of course, I didn't see, because I was actually there! Great to hear the commentary though. I was starting to feel left out! LOL) Also, lots of great photos clicking around this site as well. (Link courtesy of Aly Dudek): www.nbcolympics.com/photos/meet-us-short-track-team?ctx=team-usa
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Post by intntl on Jan 6, 2014 18:23:56 GMT -8
When all is said and done, I'm glad there is an alternate place for short track athletes to train in SLC--Salt Lake International. Having a world-class coach right next door to the "stable", is probably the only way USS will not fall back into its former bad management and other habits. Their team of skaters did well and I expect we will be seeing them on the podium in the years ahead. Good Luck to everyone going to Sochi and be safe!
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Post by sk8erfan on Jan 7, 2014 16:35:35 GMT -8
U.S. Olympic Short Track Speed Skating Team finalizedJ.R. Celski and Jessica Smith qualified for every distance in Sochi, while the final four members of the eight-skater U.S. Olympic Short Track Team were decided Sunday.
Celski and Smith, who already won the 500m and 1500m at the U.S. Olympic Trials, prevailed in the 1000m on the final day of competition at the Utah Olympic Oval.
“The USA is here to play,” Celski said on NBC. “We’re going to go to Sochi and represent.”
Eddy Alvarez and Emily Scott, who made their first Olympics on Saturday, also finished in qualifying position for all three distances.
They’ll be joined on the U.S. Olympic Team by 2010 Olympians Jordan Malone and Alyson Dudek and first-time Olympians Chris Creveling and Kyle Carr.
The U.S. team headed to Sochi is a rebuilt one following the retirements of individual Olympic medalists Apolo Ohno and Katherine Reutter and scandals involving skate tampering and coaching abuse that caused a reorganization of US Speedskating.
“It’s been a long time coming,” Smith said on NBC. “I’m excited for what the future holds. All three of us [women] here are looking for the gold and the podium as well. We’re looking to bring home all the medals.”
Creveling, 27, all but booked his spot by winning the first 1000m final on Sunday, handing the two-time Olympic bronze medalist Celski his first loss at trials. It looks like Creveling will skate the 1000m and 1500m in Sochi.
Malone, 29, looks likely to skate the 500m in Sochi despite pulling out of the second 1000m with bruised ribs and a strained hip tendon from an earlier crash Sunday.
Carr wasn’t in the top three in any individual distance but should have a spot on the preliminary-round relay in Sochi.
The relay team with Celski and Malone won bronze in 2010.
The women had one spot left to be decided on their three-skater Olympic Team on Sunday. The favorite going in was Dudek, and she held on despite finishing third in the 1000m, a distance the U.S. women will have two spots in at Sochi.
Dudek will be able to skate the 500m and 1500m at the Olympics. The U.S. women did not qualify an Olympic relay team, a disappointment after Dudek and Co. won bronze in 2010.
“I’m more prepared now,” Dudek said on NBCSN. “It’s going to be completely different.”
Here are the final individual distance and overall standings from the U.S. Olympic Trials:
Men’s 500m 1. J.R. Celski — 2,500 (clinched Olympic berth) 2. Eddy Alvarez — 1,920 (clinched Olympic berth) 3. Jordan Malone — 1,357 (clinched Olympic berth)
Men’s 1000m 1. J.R. Celski — 2,300 (clinched Olympic berth) 2. Chris Creveling — 1,810 (clinched Olympic berth) 3. Eddy Alvarez — 1,472 (clinched Olympic berth)
Men’s 1500m 1. J.R. Celski — 2,500 (clinched Olympic berth) 2. Eddy Alvarez — 1,632 (clinched Olympic berth) 3. Chris Creveling — 1,428 (clinched Olympic berth)
Women’s 500m 1. Jessica Smith — 2,500 (clinched Olympic berth) 2. Emily Scott — 1,840 (clinched Olympic berth) 3. Alyson Dudek — 1,760 (clinched Olympic berth)
Women’s 1000m 1. Jessica Smith — 2,500 (clinched Olympic berth) 2. Emily Scott — 2,000 (clinched Olympic berth) 3. Alyson Dudek — 1,600
Women’s 1500m 1. Jessica Smith — 2,300 (clinched Olympic berth) 2. Emily Scott — 2,200 (clinched Olympic berth) 3. Alyson Dudek — 1,600 (clinched Olympic berth)
Here are the overall distance standings:
Men 1. J.R. Celski — 6,800 (clinched Olympic berth) 2. Eddy Alvarez — 4,704 (clinched Olympic berth) 3. Chris Creveling — 3,674 (clinched Olympic berth) 4. Kyle Carr — 2,927 (clinched Olympic berth) 5. Jordan Malone — 2,917 (clinched Olympic berth) 6. Travis Jayner — 2,008
Women 1. Jessica Smith — 6,800 (clinched Olympic berth) 2. Emily Scott — 5,640 (clinched Olympic berth) 3. Alyson Dudek — 4,640 (clinched Olympic berth) 4. Sarah Chen — 3,128olympictalk.nbcsports.com/2014/01/05/us-olympic-short-track-speedskating-team-roster-jr-celski-jessica-smith/
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Post by intntl on Jan 8, 2014 10:55:14 GMT -8
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Post by osaycanusoc on Jan 9, 2014 1:59:41 GMT -8
Ironic emphasis of this theme of loyalty, and, oh so sad that Simon Cho's loyalty to the same coach did not pay at all for Simon......
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Post by sk8er on Jan 10, 2014 12:10:50 GMT -8
Jessica is a seasoned pro at sport (from inline). She's tough and a lot older. She knew that regardless of anything else Jae could get her to the top of her abilities.
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Post by osaycanusoc on Jan 10, 2014 17:08:26 GMT -8
Agreed. So, instead of portraying Jessica's decision as some sort of loyalty out of a sense of honor and duty, they should call it what it is - pragmatism and self-interest. Not loyalty. I think they are looking for a story that isn't there and trying to make Jae Su Chun some sort of emotional underdog. Cho was the one truly being loyal to Jae Su Chun, and look what that got him. But the media isn't going to touch that, they won't want to risk getting a USS/USOC cold shoulder and watch the chance for exclusives and scoops and inside dishing dry up because they didn't play ball by sugar coating or forgetting the scandalous parts of this story.
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Post by osaycanusoc on Jan 10, 2014 17:23:02 GMT -8
An additional opinion or observation - it seems to me that Jae Su Chun came out clearly ahead of Simon Cho in the end.
Jae Su, the adult in the leadership position who incorrectly abused his power by manipulating a subordinate athlete many years his junior into doing his illegal and unsportsmanlike bidding, ended up getting a much lighter sentence. He still gets to coach. He can effectively have all the contact he wants with athletes at practice and at competitions with the exception of being in the coaches box and the locker rooms - a problem that is easily remedied with electronics and an assistant. He continued to get paid for a full year of work (to the tune of about $150,000.00) from October 2012 to May 31, 2013 even though he "resigned" and only worked from June 1, 2012 to Oct 2012. He got about $90,000.00 he didn't deserve for these seven months. From an organization that is making cuts to benefits for athletes, putting programs on a bare bones level at the same time. And, not only did he collect his full salary from USS during the time he was being "punished", he was able to be paid for coaching elsewhere (at SLI) during this time, effectively doubling his pay for the same amount of work. Some punishment! So, while being "banned" by USS and the ISU, Jae Su Chun actually gets to continue to be a coach with the minor problem of having to have a proxy in the coaches box for him attached to an electronic leash that Jae Su holds.
Simon, in the meantime, under the ban, cannot be a skater. How is this fair? Jae Su, the adult abusing power, the person with the motive and the plan, gets a financial bonus and can continue virtually unobstructed doing what he was doing, while Simon Cho, the young athlete who is barely an adult, struggles to be "loyal" to his coach and gives in to the coaches manipulative pressure, ends up not being to skate during the prime of his career, and loses out financially too. To top it off, Simon, once the story came out, was much more of a man than Jae Su and admitted and apologized for his mistakes while Jae Su continued with the childish behavior of trying to point the figure at others and deny his actions and make excuses.
Simon Cho was a lesser player in the skate tampering event to Jae Su Chun's masterminding the plan and manipulating the person he was responsible for protecting and leading into doing his dirty work instead. Despicable. Cho loses big, Chun practically comes out ahead. This is a very significant injustice in this situation. USS and the ISU should be ashamed of the end result.
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Post by sk8er on Jan 11, 2014 17:56:56 GMT -8
All about proof. There is a legal standard here and despite suspicions and smoking guns I doubt Cho's allegations would have stood up to the evidentiary test in an administrative hearing. Now if Jeff Simon had corroborated Cho's allegations things would have been clearer. Take heart....the law of karma is at work. And I meant that seriously. The only person we can change or be responsible for is ourselves. Cho did that and in the long run he will be the better person for it.
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