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Post by Laura (Lori) on Feb 12, 2014 22:10:47 GMT -8
I'll be setting my alarm! The next round of short track competition starts overnight tonight. I won't be posting any results here until after tomorrow night's NBC coverage - but you can use the links above to watch Live! Here's the schedule: Ladies 500M QF (5am Eastern, 2am Pacific) Mens 1000M Heats (5:25am Eastern, 2:25am Pacific) Ladies 500M SF (6:10am Eastern, 3:10am Pacific) Mens 5000M Relay Semifinals (6:31am Eastern, 3:31am Pacific) Ladies 500m Finals (7:05am Eastern, 4:05am Pacific)
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Post by Laura (Lori) on Feb 13, 2014 12:58:32 GMT -8
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Post by Laura (Lori) on Feb 14, 2014 16:58:00 GMT -8
Overnight tonight will be the next ST round - medals will be awarded in the Men's 1000M and Ladies 1500M. In the Men's 1500M all 3 USA Men are still alive: J.R. Celski; Chris Creveling and Eddy Alvarez The Ladies' 1000M gets underway with our 3 USA Ladies: Jessica Smith; Emily Scott and Aly Dudek Action starts at 5am Eastern, 2am Pacific. Heat lineups and schedule are posted at ISU Sportresult: www.sportresult.com/federations/ISU/ShortTrack/?evt=11213100000010SportResult will also be providing up-to-the-minute results in the 'blinking numbers' format that we all know and love! Watch NBC Live stream at the following link (but allow yourself time for setup and verification of your TV/Satellite provider): www.nbcolympics.com/live-extra--------------- In Thursday's action, it was kind of a 'bowling for skaters' night: China's Li Jianrou won gold in the Ladies 500M by 'pulling a Bradbury' when an ill-advised pass by 3rd-place Elise Christie (GBR) took down 2nd-place Arianna Fontana (ITA) and 1st-place Park Seung-Hi (KOR). Li Jianrou was in last place and bypassed the carnage to win gold, while Christie, Fontana and Park scrambled for the remaining positions. Christie was Penalized, Fontana got the silver, and Park the bronze. Only Speedskater Who Didn’t Fall Wins Women’s 500By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS / FEB. 13, 2014 www.nytimes.com/2014/02/14/sports/olympics/only-speedskater-who-didnt-fall-wins-womens-500.html?_r=1---------------- Much the same story in the Men's 5000M Relay Semifinal... Eddy Alvarez was skating in 2nd place to the Koreans' Lee Ho-Suk (Netherlands was 3rd, Kazakhstan 4th). Both Eddy & Lee were struggling coming out of the curve, and as Lee ultimately lost his grip on the ice, he put out his hand onto Eddy's skate blade - interrupting Eddy's crossover and sending him sprawling as well. NED first, KAZ second. After a referee review, USA was advanced into what will now be a 5-team Final - minus the always-strong Koreans AND Canadians (who fell and went out of contention in THEIR Semifinal). U.S. short-track relay team survives wild crashBy Martin Rogers February 13, 2014 9:15 AM Yahoo Sports sports.yahoo.com/news/u-s--short-track-relay-team-survives-wild-crash-141342556.html?soc_src=mediacontentstory
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Post by Laura (Lori) on Feb 16, 2014 14:19:47 GMT -8
Did I say 'bowling for skaters' on Thursday night? Much the same for several of our skaters yesterday. Ladies 1500M:Emily Scott and Jessica Smith finished 1st and 2nd, respectively, in Heats and moved on to the SF's - Aly Dudek was 4th and didn't advance. In the Semifinals, Jessica finished 4th and advanced to the B Final, where she finished 2nd. Emily was skating strong in her SF heat, but tangled with Korea's Cho Ha-Ri and both fell. Cho was penalized, and Emily was advanced to the A Final. Emily's luck didn't improve in the Final - again, she 'swapped paint' with Korean Kim Alang in a skater pileup, ultimately finishing 5th (Kim was penalized). GOLD: Zhou Yang (CHN), SILVER: Shim Suk Hee, and BRONZE to lovely Arianna Fontana (Italy). Arianna has made the podium in both distances thus far! There was a nice special segment about Emily and her dad on the NBC broadcast - I hope I can find it later to post it on her thread! Men's 1000M:On Thursday, all 3 of our Men ( Chris Creveling, Eddy Alvarez and J.R. Celski) advanced out of the Heats into the Semifinals. Last night our luck ran out - with all 3 Men finishing out of qualifying position in the quarterfinals... Chris finished a close 3rd in his heat, but J.R. hit a block and fell (I think he was in 2nd or 3rd position at the time). He was limping a bit when he left the ice - the announcers were concerned about his left knee, but I heard somewhere that he's fine. I hope that's correct! Eddy was collateral damage in an unlucky fall by Charles Hamelin - as Eddy was not in a qualifying position at the time of the spill, he was not advanced. In the final, Russia went 1-2 with Viktor An winning GOLD - his second medal in Sochi. Grigorev (RUS) won silver, with Sjinkie Knegt (NED) picking up the bronze. After the infamous 'bird-flipping' incident with Knegt/An, it was ironic seeing them on the podium together, haha! Korean Sin Da Woon made contact several times in this race, and was ultimately penalized - I think the skater that was most adversely affected by Sin was China's Wu Dajing who was never able to recover, finishing last. I found an interesting article about the South Korean public's reaction to An's success in Sochi - they're hoppin' mad at their Federation for letting him go! (Will post on the Korean thread)
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Post by sk8er on Feb 17, 2014 10:22:04 GMT -8
Ahn, Hyun Soo/Viktor An Unquestionably the greatest male short tracker of all time. When asked even Apolo nearly said as much. What is that old Klingon saying "Revenge is a dish best served cold." I still have high hopes for the men's relay team and the 500m. And even to get to the Olympics says a lot about skill and motivation.
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Post by Laura (Lori) on Feb 17, 2014 22:14:43 GMT -8
Overnight tonight is the next round of ST - Men's 500M Heats (J.R. Celski; Eddy Alvarez; Jordan Malone) and Ladies 1000M Heats (Jessica Smith; Emily Scott). It's a short night - prolly less than 2 hours, starting at 4:30am Eastern, 1:30am Pacific. The Ladies 3000M Relay Finals will also be contested, but no USA skaters are in this - I love me some Canada, but GO ITALIA!!! By now, I hope y'all know where to find the stream - if not, let us know and I'm sure somebody can help! Here's the ISU link to data results/schedule: www.sportresult.com/federations/ISU/ShortTrack/
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Post by Laura (Lori) on Feb 18, 2014 3:17:06 GMT -8
No spoilers here, but OMG wait till you see the Ladies' Relay Final - what a race!!!
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Post by mtnme on Feb 18, 2014 21:34:45 GMT -8
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Post by Laura (Lori) on Feb 18, 2014 22:25:47 GMT -8
I like the analogy of 'cement blocks' on the legs to describe lactate threshold...
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Post by Laura (Lori) on Feb 19, 2014 22:25:24 GMT -8
Here’s what happened in yesterday’s ST action:
The Ladies 1000M Heats were nail-biters for Jessica Smith and Emily Scott!
Both Jessica and Emily were in Lane 1, getting the lead off the start.
In Jessica’s heat, she was passed in Lap 1 by Russia’s Tatiana Borodulina, but she regained the lead in Lap 3. For the next 4 laps, she was in a fierce battle with Borodulina, shutting the door on the Russian’s attempts to pass over and over again until both were passed by China’s Li Jianrou in Lap 7. For the remaining laps, Jessica continued to fight off Borodulina, finishing 2nd and advancing to the Quarterfinal.
Emily hung onto her lead until she was passed in lap 3 by Korea’s Park Seung-Hi. At that point it became a battle for 2nd between Emily and Czechoslovakia’s Katerina Novotna. In Lap 7, Novotna attempted an inside pass on Emily with no room. Novotna fell, sending Emily wide and what appeared to be hopelessly behind. It was pretty apparent that Emily had been impeded (Novotna was indeed penalized), but Em’s wasn’t taking any chances! She skated an amazing last couple of laps, catching up and passing Kazakhstan’s Inna Simonova at the line.
Other notable performances for the Ladies were Elise Christie (GBR) who, after disappointment in her earlier distances, came from behind for a commanding and decisive victory in her heat - and Jorien Ter Mors (NED), gold medalist in Long Track just yesterday, who was in first place, but got caught up in a fall by Canada’s Marianne St-Gelais, and was ultimately advanced.
We also saw China, Korea, Canada and Italy in the Ladies 3000M Relay Final. Korea finished first, China second, Canada third - and Italy fourth after a tumble in one of the exchanges. Korea came out of the final exchange in second position, and in the last lap, 17-year-old Shim Suk Hee made a phenomenal pass to take the lead in the final turn - SO impressive! In the end, though, China was penalized for impeding in the final exchange - in the replay, it was clear that China’s Zhou Yang came from center ice into the path of Shim. What ISN’T clear is why - not sure if she got confused and thought she was supposed to be racing, or maybe she was the ‘covering’ skater and just got too close.
At any rate, Korea got a well-deserved gold medal, and I’m very happy for them after their disappointment in Vancouver. Canada won silver, and the Italians were very happy to get the bronze!
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In the Men’s 500M Heats, Eddy Alvarez was in 2nd for most of the race, but after getting passed by Korea’s Lee Han-Bin in Lap 4, Eddy spun out and crashed, finishing 4th.
Jordan Malone was in the same heat as Victor An. Jordan came off the line in 4th and was never able to catch up.
J.R. Celski came off the line in 2nd, eventually fell to third, but battled back to 2nd behind Canada’s Olivier Jean to qualify for the Quarterfinals!
And in a surprising turn of events, Canada’s Charles Hamelin had his race in hand, but booted out and fell, finishing 4th and out of contention. As the British live-stream announcer put it, Hamelin “overcooked the corner”.
Only 1 more Short Track day left - Friday, Feb 21, where medals will be decided in the Ladies 1000M, the Men’s 500M, and the Men’s 5000M Relay. GO USA!!!
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Post by Laura (Lori) on Feb 20, 2014 19:13:28 GMT -8
Call your boss - you're busy tomorrow.The FINAL day of Olympics Short Track is tomorrow (Friday). We'll see the Ladies 1000M (Emily Scott; Jessica Smith), the Men's 500M (J.R. Celski), and the Men's 5000M Relay (USA will be going for GOLD in the A Final). Watch LIVE stream online starting at 11:30am Eastern, 8:30am Pacific. NBC television coverage will be delayed 'till later in the day - check your local listings. The Live Stream will last about 2-1/2 hours. It's nice (for me, anyway) that the Live Stream of this final session isn't in the middle of the night! www.sportresult.com/federations/ISU/ShortTrack/
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Post by Laura (Lori) on Feb 21, 2014 8:47:51 GMT -8
Don't worry - no spoilers, just impressions (over the course of 2+ hours) as we go along with the Live Stream: I wanted to SCREAM at the (online Live Stream) announcer - you don't get Advanced in a race if you weren't in a qualifying position at the time of the problem! *rolling eyes* That, and his 'unorthodox' pronunciation of the names says he's not well-versed in the sport - but on the upside, I've learned some new ST vernacular: 1) 'Overcooking the Corner' - a skater falls in the curve without contact by another skater 2) 'Arjee-Barjee' - Bumping and body contact between skaters --------- Haha - now they're trying to get the audience to sing 'Volare'! -------- Penalty on a NON-USA Lady in the 1000M Quarterfinals - I dearly wish it had gone the other way. -------- I just saw some spectators waving the GREEK flag - Ummmmm... -------- Well, I know who I'm pulling for in the Men's 500M Final. -------- Whoops - somebody 'overcooked the corner' in the Ladies' Semis... -------- Anthony Barthell in the Coaches' box - there's more than one way to get to the Olympics! Love ya' man!!! -------- I wonder if those Dutch helmets will become the norm - it looks like they protect more of the head than the current standard. -------- What a bummer to get introduced after the Russian, haha! -------- Men's 500M Final: O.M.G. - now THAT. IS. CONFIDENCE. Well done, WELL done. -------- Not naming names, but one particular country might want to re-assess its one-and-done 'tude... -------- Feeling a little 'misty' as I watch this Men's Relay B Final - watching some skaters for the last time, most likely: Anthony Lobello (ITA), and quite possibly many of our favorite Canadians. And because it's a B Final, I'm not sure they'll be showing it in Prime Time. *sniff* -------- Men's Relay A Final is off and running - not another peep from me on this thread until after Prime Time!
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Post by Laura (Lori) on Feb 21, 2014 23:12:43 GMT -8
Okay, ST is over for this Olympics, and the TV broadcast is over... TIME TO CELEBRATE!!! USA WINS SILVER IN THE MEN'S RELAY!!!
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Post by sk8er on Feb 22, 2014 13:03:22 GMT -8
The men didn't look very happy with that silver medal, but I don't think anyone could have stopped Ahn in those last two laps. Apolo was a great "closer" and maybe he could have caught Ahn, I don't know. But the men should be proud. They skated a great race and with anyone other than Ahn they might have held onto the lead for those last 2-3 laps. Well done! The real mystery, as the commentators noted over and over, was the complete failure of the long track team. Whatever was going on with them did not not seem to affect the short trackers. I think they skated to their expected potential. J.R. simply got out maneuvered in a couple of his races. I attribute that to experience. If he decides to stay with shorttrack and give himself to the sport wholeheartedly for the next four years I would expect to see him on the podium. With a bunch of Russians.
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Post by Laura (Lori) on Feb 22, 2014 15:13:52 GMT -8
The real mystery, as the commentators noted over and over, was the complete failure of the long track team. I think we now have the answer. It's American football. Who would have guessed? Oh, and before anybody starts 'seeing red', I've seen some things that indicate this may have been a bit tongue-in-cheek - but still... Dutch coach blames football for U.S. Speedskating's troubles"You have a lot of attention on a foolish sport like American football and you waste a lot of talent, athletic talent, on a sport that is meant to kill each other, to injure each other," Anema said in an interview on CNBC. "You're so narrow-minded and then you want to compete against the world (in other sports) when you waste a lot of time, good talent on a sport that sucks." m.jsonline.com/sports/olympics/dutch-coach-blames-football-for-us-speedskatings-troubles-b99211194z1-246672541.html
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