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Post by Laura (Lori) on Aug 17, 2009 17:03:32 GMT -8
Gotta leave again - I'll check back in later...
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Post by susie on Aug 17, 2009 17:05:21 GMT -8
Point totals for the individual races, per Tony and the Patinage blog:
Women
500m: (completed) 1. Jessica Gregg, 2816 (selected) 2. Marianne St. Gelais, 2175 3. Kalyna Roberge 2086
1500m: (completed) 1. Kalyna Roberge 2,362 2. Amanda Overland 2,175 3. Marianne St. Gelais 1,875
1000m: (2/3 races completed) 1. Kalyna Roberge 2,000 (selected) 2. Tania Vincent 1,259 3. Amanda Overland 1,209
Men:
500m: (completed) 1. Olivier Jean 2,028 (selected) 2. Liam McFarlane 1,986 3. Guillaume Bastille 1,549
1500m: (completed) 1. Guillaume Bastille 2,632 2. Olivier Jean 2,209 3. Michael Gilday 2,178
1000m: (2/3 races completed) 1. Olivier Jean 2,000 (selected) 2. Francois Hamelin 1,632 3. (Tie) Michael Gilday 1,109 Marc-Andre Monette 1,109
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Post by susie on Aug 17, 2009 18:19:52 GMT -8
From Tony's blog:
With all the points so far, the Olympic team has been pretty much determined based on racing.
For the women, it’s:
Kalyna Roberge (1000m + 1500m) Jessica Gregg (500m) Marianne St. Gelais (Second 500m spot) Tania Vicent (highest combined points for the 500m + 1000m)
For the men, it’s
Charles Hamelin (Pre-qualified for playing top three at World Championships back in March) Olivier Jean (1000m + 1500m) Guillaume Bastille (1500m) Francois Hamelin (highest combined points for the 500m + 1000m)
The last spot will be decided upon by the High Performance Short Track Committee. One man and one woman will be handpicked for the last spot.
On a side note, I was informed that Liam McFarlene needed to only place top THREE in the 500m (3) for his spot on the team for the 500m. The main problem here is that he didn’t know this information prior to the START of his 500m (3) Final A. This just goes to show you the importance of keeping up-to-date records of total points so that you won’t have to kill yourself like Liam did and get DQ’d for kicking out.
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Post by Laura (Lori) on Aug 18, 2009 0:49:01 GMT -8
Congratulations to the winners! And a special kudos goes to Tania Vicent - who, despite a serious injury during the competition, had 'done enough' to skate her way onto the team. From Tony's blog: Liam McFarlene needed to only place top THREE in the 500m (3) for his spot on the team for the 500m. The main problem here is that he didn’t know this information prior to the START of his 500m (3) Final A. This just goes to show you the importance of keeping up-to-date records of total points so that you won’t have to kill yourself like Liam did and get DQ’d for kicking out.I'm totally heartbroken for Liam McFarlane. The skaters go to the line, risking life and limb... at this level you'd think that someone amongst his 'handlers' would know what he needed to do to git'er done I'm hoping mightily that he merits consideration in the 'committee', 'cause this unknown Canuck has truly made a believer out of me...
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Post by mtnme on Aug 18, 2009 5:51:08 GMT -8
Gilday ..... This is soooooo hard, and I'm not even the one competing. To have so many good skaters and knowing they've worked their buns off to grab at those handful of spots on the team...and knowing some will go home disappointed despite everything. The only thing that is going to be tougher is watching our own go through the same thing in a few weeks. I'll enjoy every minute of watching, but I'll be heartbroken for those who don't make it. But I'll end on a good note: for Bastille and for Tania Vicent - you go girl! (hint Apolo, you CAN do this in your thirties. See! Even a GIRL can do it!!!! LOL)
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Post by susie on Aug 18, 2009 9:30:15 GMT -8
The fifth and final day of racing has commenced. Today the 1000m (3) will be contested. Tony is onsite and reporting.
Per the Patinage blog, the following skaters have qualified in their heats:
Women: Amanda Overland, Nita Avrith, Marie-Eve Drolet, Jessica Hewitt, Marianne St. Gelais, Anne Maltias, Valerie Maltais and Ivanie Blondin. Annik Plamondon was advanced.
Men: Frank Hamelin, Guillaume Blais-DuFour, Michael Gilday, Richard Shoebridge, Guillaume Bastille, Cory Rasmussen, Liam McFarland, and Remi Beaulieu.
Winners of the semis, going into the finals:
Women: Anne Maltais, Annik Plamondon, Marie-Eve Drolet, Amanda Overland, and Valerie Maltais (advanced.) Jessica Hewitt also made it in somehow.
Men: Frank Hamelin, Michael Gilday, Guillaume Bastille and Remi Beaulieu. Liam McFarland had been second in the last heat, but fell before crossing the line.
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Post by susie on Aug 18, 2009 10:16:03 GMT -8
Womens 100m (3) Final A:
Tony reports that 4 skaters fell! -- three within the start of the last lap, and Annik Plamondon at the corner
From the Patinage blog (as best I can figure): Anne and Val Maltais led the entire race. On the turn, Marie-Eve Drolet, in attempting to pass (?) sent all three of them into the pads. Anne finished in first, with Annik following. Annik fell right before the line, but still managed to cross in second place.
1. Anne Maltais 2. Annik Plamondon 3. Valerie Maltais
B Final:
1. Marianne St. Gelais 2. Nita Avrith 3. Ivanie Blondin Jessica Hewitt, DQ
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Post by Laura (Lori) on Aug 18, 2009 10:26:32 GMT -8
Thanks, Susie - where's the Patinage blog???
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Post by Laura (Lori) on Aug 18, 2009 10:28:52 GMT -8
From Tony: Gilday slips and falls in the 1000m (3) final! Final A goes to Bastille, Hamelin, and Remi.
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Post by susie on Aug 18, 2009 10:37:17 GMT -8
Patinage de Vitesse - Courte Pistepatinagevitessecourtepiste.blogspot.com/It's basically the Canadian equivalent of OZ. They've been posting behind Tony in terms of reporting results, but today they've been ahead of him. I guess that Tony's been busy videoing!
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Post by susie on Aug 18, 2009 10:43:27 GMT -8
Men's 1000m (3) B Final: 1. Cory Rasmussen 2. Guillaume Blais-DuFour 3. Richared Shoebridge
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Post by Laura (Lori) on Aug 18, 2009 10:44:25 GMT -8
Patinage de Vitesse - Courte Pistepatinagevitessecourtepiste.blogspot.com/It's basically the Canadian equivalent of OZ. They've been posting behind Tony in terms of reporting results, but today they've been ahead of him. I guess that Tony's been busy videoing! Ahhh, but I see that one must speak French to partake - which is one of many reasons I'm happy to have you here, Susie!
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Post by susie on Aug 18, 2009 10:51:52 GMT -8
Ahhh, but I see that one must speak French to partake - which is one of many reasons I'm happy to have you here, Susie! They have articles and posts in both French and English, but yeah, my rusty French definitely comes in handy! Okay, I've run the points for the women -- Kalyna Roberge already has the 1000m spot in Vancouver due to her two previous wins at Trials, but if my math is correct, Amanda Overland is the next highest point-getter in the 1000m. That puts her in a very nice position to get the attention of the committee as their pick. I felt that she had the strongest claim anyway, prior to this last race.
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Post by susie on Aug 18, 2009 11:11:24 GMT -8
Just for fun, I'm going to revisit my "Fantasy Canadian Olympic Team" that I picked after the first day of Trials: MEN: If Charles Hamelin wasn't already a shoo-in, he would be my number one pick anyway. And I do believe that Flou's calculated risk of skipping Trials to vie for the committee pick will pay off for him. That leaves (I believe?) three slots open. One will assuredly go to Olivier Jean. Frank Hamelin appears to be peaking at just the right stage of his career and will get the number four slot. Number five is the killer. I think it might go to Guillaume Bastille, with Remi Beaulieu giving him a strong challenge. It kills me not to put Monette in there.Ooohh, I totally nailed the men. That's assuming that Flou gets the committee pick, which I believe he will. I never saw Liam McFarlane coming. He's a great talent, and I hope he sticks with the sport for one more Olympic cycle. Michael Gilday also performed quite nicely at Trials. WOMEN: Despite her DQ on Sunday, Kalyna Roberge is my number one pick. Tania Vincent gets the number two slot. In no particular order, Valerie Maltais and Amanda Overland get slots three and four. Slot five is the killer. I might give a slight edge to Jessica Gregg over Marianne St. Gelais. That still leaves out some fine skaters (Jessica Hewitt and Valerie Lambert, for example,) but it is what it is.Not too bad on the women, either. IMO Valerie Maltais somewhat underperformed and Marianne St. Gelais exceeded my expectations. I believe that Amanda Overland will get the committee pick, but it could also go to Valerie Maltais, Anne Maltais, or Marie-Eve Drolet.
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Post by Laura (Lori) on Aug 20, 2009 10:45:15 GMT -8
Yeah, you did pretty good there, Susie - I'm impressed! Our newest member, Musicalmom, attended the Canadian Trials and posted about her experience at GA - she has graciously allowed me to re-post some of it here: ------------------------------------------- AUGUST 14: Just want to tell you that I've attended the first two whole days of competition at the Canadian Olympic Trials and plan to also attend the next 3. Hardly any spectators ( about 100 on Sunday), and only about 50 or so on Tuesday.
I spoke to C Hamelin. They had him posting results as he is already on the Team and wasn't competing in the trials. Of course brother Francois is competing quite seriously. With Charles chosen, and 1 of 5 male spots saved for the selection committe to chose, only 3 will win spots from this trial. Of the women, 4 will be chosen at this trial. The Olympic team will be announced on August 26th.
Still pretty much up for grabs as they have to win or place high in 2 out of 3 races in each distance, ie. 500, 1000, 1500 which will be held over the 5 days of racing. There is training time in between days. So far, no one has placed first in both races of a given distance.
Very exciting & fierce competition all along. They're scheduling it on the same days and at same times as the Olympic events will be held to simulate the predicted Olympic Experience. Even staying at a hotel about the same distance as the Olympic village to copy travel times. Seems like a smart plan.
Most interesting observation…I saw a group of about 6 chinese people with big cameras , looking physically fit and dressed in warm up outfits, sitting close to me…at the end of the day outside, I introduced myself and asked if they were short track skaters. They nodded and I welcomed them to Vancouver. There were 2 women and about 4 men ( some others joined them as they walked out). One of the men looked familiar. I asked if they were competitors as I already knew that the Chinese had rented facilities in Kamloops, B.C. to practice. They sheepishly said that they were all coaches but then mentioned that one of their female skaters was very famous. I said that I had watched her skate at the V. World Cup and on Chinese television on the computer during last year’s season. Guess they were gathering information today at the Coliseum. They were taking lots of pictures and I think video all day. Beautiful big lenses on their cameras. They said they’d be in B.C. for another 2 weeks. Both the women I spoke to and the main camera coach were rather tall for Chinese. I’d say close to 5 ‘ 10 “ or so.
-Not sure of their names. -There were about 5 major crashes into the boards , 3 of them in the tertiary finals of the mens 500…3 out of 4 racers crashed in the last lap in different corners of the oval. Fortunately no one was hurt thanks to the movable boards. Jessica Hewett also crashed earlier and was then dq’d for impeding, also fortunately not hurt. -All in all, it seemed to be a grueling day with number of heats (4 at each level) and the semi finals and finals…so close together and not a lot of recovery time…there was about an hour break between 1500 and 500…the 500 went so quickly there was scarcely any breathing time! -At one point, one of the stewards (?) (the guy who runs in and fixes the blocks during the race,)Made a blind cross right through the competing skaters as they came around the curve…fortunately he missed hitting any one because there was a slight gap between the first 3 skaters and the next 3 skaters…wonder what the rules say about this…it was during the women’s 500 finals… -The announcer was spitting out French names and commentary so rapidly that you could hardly catch what he was saying when he would periodically switch to English…Very frustrating to an English ear…of course a large percentage of the Canadian skaters are from Quebec, but most of the crowd was English or Asian. They did not post times on the score board, so I had to get them from one of the coaches who sat near me using a computer…missed a few, I’m sorry. They pretty much checked out with the day 1 report from speed skating Canada…AUGUST 15: Two more racing days left. 2 more men to be selected, 3 more women. Just discovered that even if they qualify for the Olympic team, they still have to qualify for each distance at the World Cup in Marquette. It's been an amazing first 3 days. With experienced skaters Tania Vicent, Amanda Overland, and Kalyna Roberge right back in the middle of the mix after injuries last year and younger skaters Marianne St-Gelais . Valerie Maltais, Marie-Eve Drolet, Jessica Hewitt and Ivanie Blondin hungry to replace them, the women's events have been awesome. And Kalyna Roberge's speed in all distances is beyond belief...she often comes from last in one pass to the very front and stays there!
Marianne St-Gelais is also extremely motivated to join her boyfriend Charles on this journey.
Olivier Jean just returned to the W.Cup season last year after one full year off with a serious injury and he is burning up the ice. Francoise Hamelin is hungry to join his brother on the team and risking it all in every race. Liam McFarlane has come from the development team and surprised everyone with his focus and speed. Michael gilday, Marc-Andre Monette, and Remi Beaulier are also out there giving their all.AUGUST 17: Just got back from Day 4 of Olympic trials...quite a day...Some pretty exciting races and some surprises... They ran the 500 and the 1500 distances for both men and women. Here are some quick highlights...best details from tony at shorttrackhd.com
1.Jessica Gregg won her 2nd 500 with a time of 43.776 and qualified for the Olympic team joining Kalyna Roberge who qualified Sat. Second place went to Marianne St. Gelais at 43.822.
2. Guillame Bastille won todays 500 ( his second) at a time of 41.547 and qualified for the Olympic Team to join Olivier Jean who qualified Sat. and Charles Hamelin who prequalified by means of his world championship results last year. Second place was Michael Gilday with a time of 41.880 and 3rd was Corey Rasmussen at 42.696. This was an amazing race with many changes of place. Liam McFarland actually came over the line first but was dq'd for lifting his skate. So sad because having won a previous race, he would have qualified for the Olympics with a win here. This is a skater to watch. He is trained in Calgary and just on the development team. Known for his rapid starts and fast pace it's likely that his excitement and inexperience caused him to lose focus a second too soon. He also crashed with I think it was Guillame or Michael Gilday just after he crossed the line. Had to wait for a referee's review of the video. So disappointing. Francoise Hamelin was also dq'd (I think for impeding)
3. Other sad news, Olympic veteran Tania Vicent who was hoping for a win in the 500 or 1500 to add to her previous scores, crashed into the boards during practice before racing started . It seemed that she slammed into them with her shoulder..they called the medics and took her off the ice. She was withdrawn from both races today. Hope her injuries weren't serious and that she can race the 1000 tomorrow morning. No word when I left the rink at the end of today.
4.Kalyna Roberge placed first in the women's 1500 final just edging out Amanda Overland who placed second. I didn't hear times announced. But it was an exciting race with many changes of position and a close finish.I think Marriane St. Gelais was 3rd.
5. the mens 1500 was breathtaking and seemed really fast.. Guillame Bastille placed first and I believe Michael Gilday was 2nd...will have to check Tony's blog for accuracy on all these races..
6. I actually met Tony today. He is amazing ...was working his video camera on a tripod and blogging/twittering on 1 computer and getting numbers on a 3rd...! Talk about multi tasking! A very accomplished young man and quite charming.
Sorry for any inaccuracies...I found it hard to watch, write with my bad hand, and keep track of the French announcer...takes me time to mentally process his accented pronunciation of names...plus there are several sets of names...2 Maltais, 2 Hamelins, 2 Bieleaus, 2 Jessicas, etc...but did my best...
All in all, these skaters are leaving it all on the ice and it has been amazing to watch...unfortunately quite a few falls today..they kept stopping to repair the gouges in the ice. Competition went from 2 pm to about 6:15...a long day for the skaters.AUGUST 18: It was quite a morning of racing. Skaters told me the ice was softer than usual. Lots of spills. During 1000 ladies final, 3 of 5 in the front of the pack ( including Amanda Overland-who had been in 1st or 2nd position throughout) crashed and fell several laps before the finish, then a 4 skater fell and got up...don't know how they determined the final placements with all the falls, but here they are: 1. Ann Maltais - 134.847 2. Annik Plamodin 3. Valerie Maltais (fell) 4. Marie Eve Drollet (fell) 5. Amanda Overland (fell)
Don't know what this will do to Amanda's chances to be picked by the selection committee. prior to this race she had the next most points overall of those not yet qualifying. I believe Valerie Maltais was just behind her. Final committee selections will be announced Aug. 26.
The final of the men's 1000 was also chaotic..constant change of positions.. 1. Guillame Bastille 2. Francoise Hamelin 3. Remi Beaulier 4. Michael Gilday (fell)Will have to check at www.shorttrackhd.com (Tony) for accurate times and placements....pretty heartbreaking day for many....
Although he qualified for the B final, Liam McFarland didn't skate as he had fallen in the semi's and banged an ankle that he had injured yesterday ( ligaments I heard). Corey Rasmussin won the B final.--------------------------------------- A big thank-you to MM, for sharing this with us and giving us a fan's perspective of the event!
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