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Post by Laura (Lori) on Jan 21, 2010 21:53:51 GMT -8
blog.basenz.com/2010/01/first-members-of-nzs-olympic-teams.htmlNew Zealand announced many of the members of their Olympic team today, and guess who made it? Blake! Skating Blake Skjellerup (Short Track, 24, Christchurch)Shane Dobbin (Speed Skating, 30, Palmerston North – 2 x World Champion in-line skating) I was impressed by an article I read about him at Ohnozone several years ago - and as a result, Blake was the first skater I ever supported financially. I later had the pleasure of meeting him at the World Cup in SLC, Feb 2008. After we started The Rocker Fund, my priorities shifted to the USA skaters represented by TRF, but I'm always cheering for Blake, and I'm so happy to see that his dream has become a reality!
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Post by Laura (Lori) on Feb 2, 2010 14:53:02 GMT -8
I LOVE THIS - it couldn't happen to a nicer guy - GO BLAKE! tvnz.co.nz/2010-winter-olympics/kiwi-olympian-gets-youtube-support-3347610Kiwi Olympian gets YouTube support Published: 9:21AM Wednesday February 03, 2010 By tvnz.co.nz's John Whiting Source: ONE Sport New Zealand short track speed skater Blake Skjellerup has earned himself some big-time backing on YouTube. At just 24 years of age, Skjellerup already has an impressive list of credentials next to his name. He first competed for New Zealand as a 12-year-old and is currently the NZ Speed Skater of the Year and Junior Maori Sportsman of the Year. Born in Christchurch, Skjellerup is currently based in Calgary, Canada where he has been training for the Vancouver Olympics for the past year. Blake has made some close friends while abroad, and it's one of those friends who has created a video tribute for him. Terrell Stephen is the brains behind a YouTube video dedicated to Skjellerup in which his friends and family wish him well for the Olympics. The seven and a half minute clip also features fellow Kiwi Olympian Sarah Murphy, who has also been training in Canada. Stephen's idea to produce the video came about after Blake surpassed the selection criteria at the World Cup in Michigan. He got together with Blake's friends in Calgary as well as his family back home in New Zealand to record messages of support. "Blake has been living in Calgary for the last year to train for the Olympics and in that time has made a close knit group of friends," Stephen told tvnz.co.nz. "My family and I have kind of adopted Blake and he has spent a lot of time at our house in that time. "I wanted to make the video for Blake to show him how proud of him we are, to acknowledge his hard work, show him that there is a large group of people supporting him and to give him that extra motivational and inspirational boost." Stephen has full confidence that Skjellerup will do himself, and his country proud in Vancouver. "I think Blake will do great at the Olympics. I have seen how hard he has been working and am really looking forward to going to Vancouver and watching him race."
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Post by Laura (Lori) on Feb 5, 2010 10:04:20 GMT -8
Speed skater Skjellerup grasps Olympic dream By KEVIN TUTTY - The Press / Feb 6, 2010 Two years ago, Christchurch short-track ice-skater Blake Skjellerup decided that if he was to realise his dream of competing at the Winter Olympics he would have to leave New Zealand.
He decided to train and compete against the best, and spent four months in South Korea in mid-2007.
Korea is the strongest nation in the world in short-track racing and Skjellerup thought it would be the best way to move up the world rankings.Read more at: www.stuff.co.nz/sport/winter-olympics/3299069/Speed-skater-Skjellerup-grasps-Olympic-dream
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Post by Laura (Lori) on Feb 17, 2010 17:42:44 GMT -8
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Post by Laura (Lori) on Mar 26, 2010 17:18:46 GMT -8
Short-track skater savours momentby Naomi Arnold / Southland Times / Feb 15, 2010 findarticles.com/p/news-articles/southland-times-the/mi_8058/is_20100215/short-track-skater-savours-moment/ai_n49517385/He didn't make the semis, but short- track speed skater Blake Skjellerup is thrilled to have his first Winter Olympic competition under his belt. Sleek in his skin-tight black suit, Skjellerup was fifth in the first heat of the men's 1500m at Vancouver's Pacific Coliseum yesterday, finishing in 2.14.73 in a blistering race that set a new Olympic record. Canada's Jean Olivier won Skjellerup's heat in 2.14.279. Less than half a second separated the winners as the pack crossed the line in a tight bunch. The top three skaters in each heat progress through to the semifinals. South Korea's Lee Jung-Su broke Olivier's record a short time later, and then again in the semifinals. Later in the night he beat American Apolo Anton Ohno to the gold in a heart- stopping final in which his two Korean team-mates were hurled into the Panerai Replica Watches side mats on the final lap, sending a Reuters photographer flying. The broken records had shown how fast paper bag printing the Vancouver track was, Skjellerup said. The 24-year-old Christchurch native couldn't keep the grin off his face after his race. "I feel good, really good," he said. "I felt a lot better than I thought I would have. Doing the 1500m, not my strongest but the ice quality increased tenfold from the last few days [training]. "It's really good, really fast, a lot of pressure and that's what I like." Although he admitted to a few nerves at the start, the butterflies didn't last long. "As I was putting my skates on I was like 'it's no different to any other day, it's the Olympics, it's a huge event but I'll just do what I've got to do'." Most of his race plan had been to “just sit there” in the bunch. Although he nearly took a few opportunities to make a move during the race, he instead erred on the side of caution. “The last thing I wanted to do was get disqualified from the Olympics.” Skjellerup said he hadn’t been strong in the long distances this year, although he’d had “OK” results in it before. “I feel really happy with how it went for my first race; very excited for the next few days. “Today was really about getting the experience and getting used to the ice and, the way I felt today, I’m really looking forward to the next two distances [500m and 1000m]. “I just wanted to get the experience and get it out of the way.” And what does it feel like to finally be an Olympian? "It feels really good. After eight years of all that dreaming and training it all comes true in a minute." Short track, often called "rodeo on ice", is an Olympic crowd favourite, with plenty of spills as athletes jostle on the 111m, ice- hockey-sized rink, reaching speeds of up to 50kmh. It's as much about strategy and tactics as speed, and races are often decided because the leaders crash in risky last-ditch efforts for position. Unlike the more sedate long track, in which Kiwi Shane Dobbin was 17th yesterday, the short track athletes must wear helmets and skin- tight Kevlar-lined suits for protection from the slashing blades. Gloves protect their fingertips from the skates and also from the ice as they slide out one hand to balance themselves. Tags: Blake Skjellerup / Short Track Speedskating
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Post by Laura (Lori) on Aug 7, 2010 1:29:45 GMT -8
I saw hints about this in my Google Alerts just after the Olympics, but held off for a solid article - and here it is... Post-Olympic revelation took time to come out By Yvonne Zacharias / Vancouver Sun / August 3, 2010In the conservative, testosterone-driven world of professional sports, there is perhaps no good time to announce to the world that you are gay. New Zealand short-track speed skater Blake Skjellerup wrestled with the issue when he competed in the 2010 Winter Olympics. Read more: www.vancouversun.com/life/Post+Olympic+revelation+took+time+come/3353253/story.html#ixzz0vuWMuaZ5Tags: Blake Skjellerup / Short Track Speedskating
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Post by Laura (Lori) on Sept 18, 2010 12:57:41 GMT -8
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Post by Laura (Lori) on Sept 19, 2010 19:19:27 GMT -8
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Post by Laura (Lori) on Feb 23, 2011 20:36:48 GMT -8
As some of you know, Blake is from Christchurch, NZ - I checked his Twitter, and he was (apparently) not in NZ during the earthquake. He says that his immediate family is okay, but his Twitter feed paints a picture of how frightening this event was for those who call Christchurch home. twitter.com/BlakeSkjellerupHe posted link to a video of the first big aftershock - as another person commented, in many ways it reminded me of footage from 9/11. Larry and I visited Christchurch in November, 2008 - it was a beautiful city full of gracious and hospitable people. Our thoughts and prayers are with all of them as they deal with this crisis.
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Post by sk8er on Feb 28, 2011 8:46:36 GMT -8
I'm so glad Blake and his family are OK. He is a real sweetheart. The Kiwi's work so hard and at least in the past had very little financial support. The fans got together at a World Cup in Marquette, MI in 2003 to buy them banquet tickets because they couldn't afford to attend. Hopefully things are better.....they skate their hearts out.
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Post by Laura (Lori) on Sept 3, 2011 12:29:26 GMT -8
Well, this is kinda cool! I had no idea...
The guy has a great commentary below the video - I particularly liked what he wrote near the end:
So I might have most of my facts wrong, so I might not even know the names of the rest of the countries represented, NZers need to remember they were once awesome at something they had no right to be awesome at!
1993 New Zealand short track speed skating world champions!
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Post by Laura (Lori) on Jun 28, 2012 8:58:47 GMT -8
Here is an old (1993) documentary about New Zealand's World Championship relay team that I referred to above. It has interviews, commentary and videos as that team prepared for the 1994 Lillehammer Olympics, where they were expected to medal and perhaps win the men's relay. Unfortunately, they did not medal - but the video is a well-done addition to our New Zealand thread:
Tags: Short Track Speedskating
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Post by Laura (Lori) on May 27, 2013 13:47:16 GMT -8
In the photo that accompanies the article, Ethan is the skater in the lead. His resume' is pretty impressive. It mentions that he trained in Korea for a month and hopes to go back again - in NZ, Ethan can only get about 3 hours of ice time per week. Two-nation attack for skating 'genius'Is this 11-year-old the Tiger Woods of ice?By Brendon Egan / The Press / May 8, 2013 Leading short track speed skating coach Ken Park believes Christchurch youngster Ethan De Rose is the most precocious talent he has seen in his nine years in New Zealand. The 11-year-old Chisnallwood Intermediate School pupil has had a magnificent past year on the ice, smashing several New Zealand age-group records, and putting his name in bright lights internationally. De Rose is ranked first in the world in the 222m Junior E class (9-11 years) after a sharp time of 25.049 seconds at the Australian short track championships last October. He is in the top 10 in the world across five different short track distances, an outstanding achievement considering the strength of the sport in Europe and Asia.Read it all: www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/sport/8644367/Two-nation-attack-planned-for-skating-geniusEDIT: I see that just yesterday, Ethan bested that 222M time (24 .566)! His personal best 500M is 53.136; and his personal best 1000M is 1:51.046.
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Post by Laura (Lori) on Aug 7, 2013 10:35:32 GMT -8
As many of you know, NZ ST'er Blake Skjellerup is gay - he came out just after the 2010 Olympics (see an article posted upthread). As you may also know, Russia has anti-gay laws that have gotten a lot of attention in recent weeks - threatening to arrest and deport any athletes or tourists who speak or exhibit LGBT 'propaganda'. This could be interpreted as something as simple as holding hands in public... The subject has gotten 'legs' with some, as yet another reason to boycott the Olympics (in addition to the Snowden asylum controversy). Blake disagrees with this approach, and I'm with him on this - as is gay Olympic multiple-gold-medalist-diver Greg Louganis who said, (this type of boycott) "hurts the wrong people"... BTW, subsequent articles I've read says that Russian officials will 'relax the law' during the Olympics - possibly due to world pressure. Best of luck to Blake at the Olympics - he is and has always been a class act! live.huffingtonpost.com/r/segment/blake-skjellerup-on-being-a-gay-olympian/51f7e44502a76040a40000d3
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Post by Laura (Lori) on Sept 19, 2013 15:40:54 GMT -8
Christchurch is a lovely town - we visited there in '08! Ice speed skating championships returnLast updated 05:00 20/09/2013 For the first time in four years the national short track ice speed skating championships are being held in Christchurch, at the Alpine Ice Centre this weekend.
While top skater Blake Skjellerup is in Asia at the first of the World Cup events attempting to qualify for the 2014 Winter Olympic Games, an eight-man field will contest the senior men's event over 500m, 1000m, 1500m and 3000m.Read it all: www.stuff.co.nz/southland-times/sport/9186680/Ice-speed-skating-champs-return
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