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Post by Laura (Lori) on Aug 15, 2009 18:29:42 GMT -8
Oh, bummer - Gilday DQ'd for impeding.
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Post by susie on Aug 15, 2009 18:40:14 GMT -8
Speed skating: Quebecers Jean and Roberge qualify for Canadian Olympic short track team By Gary Kingston, VANCOUVER SUN August 15, 2009 7:06 PM
Olivier Jean of Lachenaie, Que., and Ralyna Roberge of Montreal, qualified for the Canadian Olympic short track speed skating team today by winning 1,000 metre races at the 2010 trials at Pacific Coliseum.
Both skaters had won the first 1,000 metre races on Day 2 of the trials on Wednesday.
Sixteen men and 16 women are skating three times each at 500, 1,000 and 1,500 metres in an attempt to win spots on the 10-member Olympic team that will compete at the same venue next February.
With one male, Charles Hamelin of Quebec already pre-qualified by virtue of a third-place overall finish at last spring’s worlds and injured veteran Francois-Louis Tremblay of Montreal a safe bet to claim the discretionary spot, that actually leaves just three open spots for the men at the trials.
Jean won his 1,000 in dynamic fashion as officials needed to examine a photo finish to determine that the lanky 25-year-old had actually edged Francois Hamelin of Montreal and Michael Gilday of Yellowknife at the line.
Jean, who was behind Hamelin for most of the race, was timed in one minute, 24.483 seconds, Hamelin in 1:24.486 and Gilday in 1:24.528.
Jean, who was first and second in the first two 500s this week, will be going to the Olympics for the first time.
Roberge, a silver medallist in the relay at Turin where she was also fourth in the 500 metres, went wire-to-wire to win the women’s 1,000 with Marie-Eve Drolet of Montreal second and Amanda Overland of Cambridge, Ont., third.
Both the men and the women were to skate their second 1,500 metre race of the trials later tonight.
gkingston@png.canwest.com
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Post by Laura (Lori) on Aug 15, 2009 19:09:37 GMT -8
...and injured veteran Francois-Louis Tremblay of Montreal a safe bet to claim the discretionary spot...Interesting - and nice to hear, if it's true~ Well, I'm getting back to other 'domestic' things for a bit - thank you Susie and Sunshine for keeping me company (so I didn't feel I was talking to myself! ;D), and for your info! And thank you SO MUCH, Tony, for being our 'eyes' tonight!
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Post by Laura (Lori) on Aug 17, 2009 9:28:47 GMT -8
From SSC: www.speedskating.ca/index.cfm?id=1989Kalyna Roberge and Olivier Jean have their ticket for 2010Date posted: 08/16/2009 The short track speed skating team for the 2010 Olympic Winter Games is starting to shape up, as two other skaters were able to secure their place on the team, today, during the Bell Short Track Team Selection at the Pacific Coliseum. Both Kalyna Roberge (St-Étienne-de-Lauzon, QC) and Olivier Jean (Lachenaie, QC) won their 1000m race, their second win in the distance in the event. They will therefore not need to skate the distance a third time as no one could catch up with them in the standings. The two athletes now have their ticket to race the 1000m at the 2010 Olympic Winter Games. They still need to qualify to race in other distances, and that is where their focus will go in the next few days. Roberge repeated her performance of Wednesday in the final, taking first place off the start and giving such a good pace to the race that no one was able to make a move on her. She crossed the finish line in 1:30.661. Marie-Ève Drolet (Laterrière, QC) who was taking part in her first final of this Team Selection event followed her for the entire race and earned her best result so far when she crossed the line second in 1:30.762. Amanda Overland (Montreal, QC) was third (1:30.819) followed by Valérie Maltais (1:31.375). “I’m extremely happy”, said a relieved Roberge after her race. “This takes some stress off my shoulders, but not my will to win the other distances. I had a tough start to this competition, I focused on reaching the optimal mental state and it’s working great! With two laps to go, I was telling myself ‘don’t slip, don’t slip’, and at the end, it was ‘yeah, I qualified for the Games!!!” ¬On the men side, Jean was in a similar situation, in that he could pocket his ticket for the Games with a win. In the final, François Hamelin (Ste-Julie, QC), who was second in the last 1000m race, thought he had it, after leading most of the race, but Jean was able to get him at the finish in 1:24.483 while Hamelin crossed the line in 1:24.486. Michael Gilday (Yellowknife, NT) took the third position in 1:24.528 and Guillaume Bastille (Rivière-du-Loup, QC) was fourth in 1:24.649. “I’m really happy to know that I’ll be skating at the Olympics. Now I want to refocus on the 1500m”, said Jean in between the two events of the day. “I knew I could qualify today, so I wanted to show up at the line as strong as I could. There’s only one distance confirmed for me though, I want to be strong for the rest of the week and qualify in the 500m and 1500m too.” That comment was reiterated by Roberge, and both skaters showed that they could do just that, as they came back strong to win the 1500m races too. The women’s final showcased seven athletes, as one was advanced from the semi-final. There was a lot of action off the start, with skaters trying to position themselves strategically. With seven laps to go, Jessica Hewitt (Kamloops, BC) was leading the pack, followed by Roberge, Overland, Laurie Marceau (Dolbeau-Mistassini, QC), Maltais, Marianne St-Gelais (St-Félicien, QC) and the experienced Tania Vicent (Laval, QC) observing in the back. Kalyna Roberge took the lead with four laps to go, Overland and Maltais following in her trace, and Roberge sprinted to the finish line that she crossed in 2:26.202. The young Maltais took the second position (2:26.515) and St-Gelais had a great finish with an inside pass on three skaters for the third place (2:26.732). Overland was fourth (2:26.825), Marceau fifth (2:27.305), Hewitt sixth (2:27:586) and Vicent seventh (2:28.003). The men’s final was also full of changes of position, but they then settled into a rhythm given by Rémi Beaulieu (Alma, QC), Bastille, Jean, Liam McFarlane (Medicine Hat, AB), Marc-André Monette (Pointe-aux-trembles, QC) and Gilday following. Gilday tried an inside pass with five laps to go and lost his balance a bit, and shortly after McFarlane and Monette fell. Jean was then able to take the lead and get his second victory of the day (2:12.638), Bastille was a close second (2:12.659). Beaulieu was third in 2:13.517. Monette fourth and McFarlane fifth, while Gilday was disqualified for impeding. The short track speed skating team now has three members lined up for the 2010 Olympic Games, as Charles Hamelin (Ste-Julie, QC) was already pre-qualified and is not racing this week. More athletes will join the ranks on Monday, August 17th, as the last 1500m and 500m races will be held at the Pacific Coliseum.
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Post by Laura (Lori) on Aug 17, 2009 9:29:45 GMT -8
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Post by susie on Aug 17, 2009 13:13:44 GMT -8
Day 4 of Canadian Olympic Trials is underway. Today the 500 (3) and the 1500 (3) will be contested. Tony is onsite, videoing and blogging.
It looks like we're starting with the womens 500m. So far those advancing are: Jessica Gregg, Valerie Lambert, Kalyna Roberge, Andrea Do-Duc, Marianne St. Gelais, Anne Maltais, Valerie Maltais, and Jessica Hewitt. Amanda Overland fell while racing against Gregg and Lambert.
For the men: Guillaume Bastille, Olivier Jean, Michael Gilday, Liam McFarlane, Francois Hamelin, Cory Rassmussen, Dustin Miller, and Antoine Gelinas-Beaulieu (?). Allyn Gagnon was close in the first heat and Remi Beaulieu fell in the 4th heat.
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Post by Laura (Lori) on Aug 17, 2009 13:18:44 GMT -8
Day 4 of Canadian Olympic Trials is underway. Today the 500 (3) and the 1500 (3) will be contested. Tony is onsite, videoing and blogging. It looks like we're starting with the womens 500m. So far those advancing are: Jessica Gregg, Valerie Lambert, Kalyna Roberge, Andrea Do-Duc, Marianne St. Gelais, Anne Maltais, Valerie Maltais, and Jessica Hewitt. Amanda Overland fell while racing against Gregg and Lambert. Wow - they started earlier than I thought!
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Post by susie on Aug 17, 2009 13:46:47 GMT -8
Womens 500m semis: Jessica Gregg, Valerie Lambert (?), Marianne St. Gelais, Kalyna Roberge.
Mens 500 semis: Francois Hamelin, Cory Rasmussen, Liam McFarlane, Guillaume Bastille, Michael Gilday. Ollvier Jean was DQ'd for impeding Michael Gilday in the second semi. Gilday was advanced.
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Post by Laura (Lori) on Aug 17, 2009 14:00:49 GMT -8
Olivier's most def a favorite of mine and I'm always sad to see a DQ - but less so right now 'cause he's already earned a spot on the team and it advanced Gilday (who's also a fav).
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Post by mtnme on Aug 17, 2009 14:07:31 GMT -8
Olivier's most def a favorite of mine and I'm always sad to see a DQ - but less so right now 'cause he's already earned a spot on the team and it advanced Gilday (who's also a fav). Bastille along with Gilday is one of mine. ;D
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Post by susie on Aug 17, 2009 14:16:13 GMT -8
Womens 500m Final A: 1. Jessica Gregg 43.776 2. Marianne St. Gelais 43.822 3. Valerie Lambert (?) 4. Kalyna Roberge (?) Jessica Gregg is on the team!
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Post by Laura (Lori) on Aug 17, 2009 14:21:24 GMT -8
Oh, YAY for Jessica!!!!! I must have been looking at the After-Day-3 rankings wrong, 'cause I thought she was languishing at the bottom of the pack... glad to know I was wrong! Anyhow, SO happy for her!
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Post by susie on Aug 17, 2009 14:25:56 GMT -8
Jessica's a favorite of mine as well. I'm still pulling for Tania.
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Post by susie on Aug 17, 2009 14:29:36 GMT -8
Looks like the mens final is a bit of a mess. Will they rerun it, do you think? ETA: Hamelin and McFarlane DQ. OMG! Mens 500m (3) Final A: 1. Guillaume Bastille 2. Michael Gilday 3. Cory Rassmussen Francois Hamelin DQ (impeding) Liam McFarlane DQ (kicking out -- he crossed the finish line first, but fell. )
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Post by Laura (Lori) on Aug 17, 2009 14:36:13 GMT -8
Wow - Hamelin DQ for impeding, McFarlane for 'kicking out' at the finish (Tony said he crossed the finish line and fell)...
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