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Post by sk8er on Oct 6, 2013 13:46:16 GMT -8
i wonder what quotes they would have offered on Ahn Hyun Soo, skating for Russia as Viktor An. THAT was a story of intrigue, drama and everything else when the greatest Korean skater of his generation was driven by politics to renounce his citizenship and move to Russia. On the podium all three times! And one a gold! NOT down and out after that terrible training accident in 2009!
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Post by sk8erfan on Jan 14, 2014 16:57:29 GMT -8
Short tracker Noh to miss Sochi Winter Olympics with broken elbowFormer short track world champion Noh Jin-kyu will miss the Sochi Winter Olympics with a broken elbow, officials here said Wednesday. The Korea Skating Union said the 21-year-old suffered the injury in a fall during his practice at the National Training Center in Seoul on Tuesday. Noh was the overall champion at the 2011 world championships. Once considered the top gun for South Korea, Noh finished only third in the national team trials in April last year and had only qualified for the 5,000m relay event, but not individual races, for the Sochi Winter Games. Noh also injured his left shoulder during an International Skating Union (ISU) World Cup race in September last year, and the recent elbow injury was the final blow to his Olympic hopes. The KSU said it will soon name Noh's replacement for Sochi. South Korea leads all countries with 19 Olympic short track gold medals. Of the country's 45 medals at the Winter Olympics, 37 have come from short track. m.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20140115000155
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Post by Laura (Lori) on Jan 14, 2014 22:00:06 GMT -8
Short tracker Noh to miss Sochi Winter Olympics with broken elbow Hmmm... wonder who will fill the slot - Kwak?
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Post by sk8erfan on Jan 15, 2014 6:05:51 GMT -8
I'm not sure how much discretion is in the selection procedures when it comes to replacements but I think it'll probably be Lee Ho-Suk who finished 5th at Olympic trials (since the top 4 and the current world champion made the team) and skated in the world cups this season.
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Post by Laura (Lori) on Jan 15, 2014 8:01:49 GMT -8
I'm not sure how much discretion is in the selection procedures when it comes to replacements but I think it'll probably be Lee Ho-Suk who finished 5th at Olympic trials (since the top 4 and the current world champion made the team) and skated in the world cups this season. Oh, right - I had forgotten that Lee Ho-Suk didn't make the team either!
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Post by sk8er on Jan 15, 2014 19:12:57 GMT -8
Lee Ho-Suk! Apolo and J.R. have Ho-Suk to thank for their medals in the 1500m in 2010. Recall that with three Koreans leading Ho-Suk got a little too greedy for that gold. His poor attempt to pass his countrymen took himself and one down, leaving the door open for Apolo to take Silver and J.R. to take Bronze. This could be interesting..... Ho-Suk was Ahn Hyun Soo's teammate when Ahn was Korea's "Golden Boy." Those two would swing out for those big big outside passes and just blast past everyone on the last corner. You could pick the jaws up off the floor when the spectators saw that...just amazing. Well now... Ho-Suk was on the "winning" side in the Ahn vs. the Korean Skating Union standoff. And now "Victor" Ah is skating for Russia....well well. As Alice said "couriouser and couriouser."
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Post by sk8er on Jan 18, 2014 16:14:42 GMT -8
Here is Apolo on NBC Olympics Sports talking about Ahn. I had to laugh at his references to "the Kid." Ahn is only a couple of years younger than Apolo, but maybe this is part of a campaign to add "gravitas" and "age" to his resume! I can't wait to hear his commenting on the races. To my mind Ahn was and maybe still is the greatest male skater of his cohort. That despite my long standing Apolo love! In 2006 Olympics he took gold in the 1000 and 1500 and knocked off one of the Canadians to take bronze in the 500m. That despite getting lane 5, the worst possible lane for the 500m. By contrast Apolo had lane 1, the best possible lane for the 500m. If there had been another 1/2 lap he would have knocked off Apolo too and taken the 3rd individual gold medal.
Apolo Ohno breaks down international short track contenders Nick Zaccardi Jan 16, 2014, 10:42 AM EST Leave a comment Viktor Ahn Getty Images Short track speed skating at the Sochi Olympics will be a far different competition than four years ago.
It will be missing the most decorated men’s Olympic skater of all time with the retirement of Apolo Ohno and likely to be without the most decorated woman, China’s Wang Meng, following Thursday’s news.
Ohno will cover short track for NBC Olympics in Sochi and spoke with NBC Olympics’ Willie Cornblatt about the international threats for medals in Sochi.
Ohno has particular knowledge of Russian star Viktor Ahn, the former Ahn Hyun-Soo of South Korea. Ahn won triple gold for South Korea at the 2006 Olympics, missing a sweep by losing to Ohno in the 500m, was injured and didn’t make the 2010 team and switched affiliation to Russia for Sochi.
Here’s what Ohno had to say about Ahn:
So Ahn and I have been skating with each other since 2002, we went all the way through until he actually got injured pre-Vancouver, and he probably would’ve been on that team. In my eyes, Viktor Ahn, as he’s now called, is the most beautiful short track skating athlete in the world in terms of his technique and the way he skates. He’s so good in fact– we have a 3000m in World Cups, we don’t have that race in the Olympic level, so it’s a 27 lap race, it’s very slow in the beginning. I used to follow this kid just to watch him skate. Think about this, I’m trying to beat this kid, I’m watching him skate thinking, ‘this kid skates amazing.’ I always said in my head that if he ever figures out how to beat me and my weaknesses, it’s going to be very hard to get that back from him, and we traded back and forth multiple times.
As far as a redemption story, I think it’s phenomenal. The kid went through a lot in terms of injury, through his own federation, and he made a huge gamble going to Russia and competing for an alternate country. For me, personally, I would never consider that, but I do appreciate where he’s coming from, it shows his passion and love for what he’s doing in the sport. He may not be as good as he used to be, he may not have the same technique as he used to have, but what I like now about Viktor Ahn is he’s skating for himself, he’s not being pushed or pressured by the coaches, he’s skating because he really, really wants to win and he really loves the sport, and that, to me, shows the epitome of why athletes are so cool.
Read more of the Q&A on NBC Olympics here.
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Post by Laura (Lori) on Jan 18, 2014 21:08:28 GMT -8
"This kid" - fun!
With his devastating injury, I once lamented that I would never have the chance to see Ahn Hyun-Soo skate. I was blessed to see Victor An (RUS) at World Cup 1 in Calgary this season. He was both tenacious and gracious - winning his first gold medal as a Russian, and acknowledging his many fans in a most endearing way.
I'm always for Team USA first and foremost - and life experiences have given me a particular affinity for Team Italia and Canada - but Ahn Hyun-Soo/Viktor An has my utmost respect.
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Post by Laura (Lori) on Jan 23, 2014 14:08:56 GMT -8
Hoping to find an article in English with more details, but Tony just posted some very sad news - Jinkyu Noh apparently has been diagnosed with bone cancer.
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Post by sk8erfan on Jan 24, 2014 8:25:15 GMT -8
Hoping to find an article in English with more details, but Tony just posted some very sad news - Jinkyu Noh apparently has been diagnosed with bone cancer. Here's an English article about Noh, so sorry to hear about this. Wishing him a speedy recovery and all the best. Noh tumour dampens Korean short track team further
South Korea's embattled short track speed skating team were dealt another blow to morale on Thursday with injured world champion Noh Jin-kyu undergoing surgery to remove a cancerous tumour that could threaten his career. The 21-year-old had already been ruled out of competing at the Sochi Olympics next month after fracturing his elbow in a fall on January 14, with the examination of the injury showing the tumour in his shoulder had swelled to 13 centimetres and become malignant. Noh, a 1500 metre specialist, first became aware of the tumour last September but had opted not to have it removed until after the February 7-23 Games as it was small and benign. "We also found out about the tumour through the media reports and were taken aback," an official at the Korea Skating Union (KSU) told Reuters on Friday. "He bumped into a Canadian skater at the World Cup last September and fractured his left shoulder ... the exact same spot where he had a tumour. "So we thought it was something due to the fracture that was sticking out of his uniform, never a 13-centimetre-long malignant tumour." Noh had been taking painkillers since but a lump was visible in his left shoulder in a picture recently posted on the blog of the retired short track skater An Sang-mi. "I saw the muscle swollen so much and already hardened and asked if he was okay and he just said he was fine," said An on her blog. He will begin chemotherapy in two weeks, doctors said. The news is the latest blow to hit the revered short track team, who have provided all but four of the country's 23 Winter Olympic golds and 37 of 45 total medals. A fortnight ago, one of the national team coaches was temporarily expelled from the Taeneung National Team Training Centre amid allegations that he had sexually molested his former student two years ago. Also likely to grate the team is the form of one of their former skaters, Viktor Ahn, who won the World Cup title over 500 metres in November. Ahn, formerly known as Ahn Hyun-soo, won three gold medals at the 2006 Olympic Games in Turin, but took Russian citizenship in 2011 after the 28-year-old skater was controversially omitted for the Vancouver Games. The KSU said the news of Noh's ailment would obviously have an effect on the team. "I am not sure his teammates know about the tumour and surgery of Noh because they already left for France on Wednesday and I have not spoken with them regarding the matter," the official said. "They will be saddened and demoralized by the news but I am sure they will not feel disturbed too much too long since the big game is fast approaching." uk.reuters.com/article/2014/01/24/uk-olympics-shorttrack-cancer-idUKBREA0N0KB20140124
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Post by Laura (Lori) on Jan 24, 2014 10:15:09 GMT -8
Thanks sk8erfan - here's another article with quite a bit of additional info: Blessing in disguiseBy Kim Tong-hyung / Korea Times / Jan 24, 2014 Top skater recovering after surgery to remove bone tumor Noh Jin-kyu, Korea’s short-track speed skating ace, was devastated after breaking his left shoulder and elbow during practice earlier this month, which shattered his dreams of going for glory at the Sochi Winter Olympics.
However, it now looks as if the injury might prove to be the best thing that has ever happened to him. Read it all: koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2014/01/627_150441.html
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Post by Laura (Lori) on Feb 1, 2014 16:22:03 GMT -8
While reading some of the follow-up articles after Noh's cancer diagnosis, I ran across this interesting tidbit of info about Lee Ho-Suk (Noh's replacement for the Olympics): 2006 and 2010 Olympian Lee Ho-Suk will reportedly replace Noh on the Olympic Team and become the first three-time Olympic men’s short track speed skater for the decorated nation.
Lee is 27. South Korea, known for incredible turnover in short track, has not entered an Olympic skater older than 24 since 1994, according to sports-reference.com.- See more at: www.nbcolympics.com/news/world-champion-short-track-skater-noh-jin-kyu-miss-sochi-after-malignant-tumor-found#sthash.wOhSwyJI.dpuf
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Post by Laura (Lori) on Feb 16, 2014 15:02:14 GMT -8
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Post by sk8er on Feb 17, 2014 10:35:20 GMT -8
Book deal!
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Post by Laura (Lori) on Mar 28, 2014 20:03:12 GMT -8
Tony Chung is thinking about going to Korea to broadcast Korean Trials - if you're a Korean fan and would like to support his trip, here's the link for his GoFundMe! Broadcast of Korean Short Track Trialswww.gofundme.com/7vf5mc
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