After a 'bad year,' Baver pleased with bronze medal
Battling injuries, illness and having been forced to take nearly a year off training to deal with a heart problem, Baver — one of the most experienced and familiar skaters on the U.S. short track speedskating team — didn't need any more bad news.
And that, perhaps, is why she looked down at the bronze medal she won in the 1,500 with such fondness after fighting for a spot on the podium Saturday night at the Utah Olympic Oval.
"It's been a bad year," Baver said. "My grandmother died this week and mentally, going into this competition, I was really distracted."
Her third-place finish almost didn't happen, though. It took the disqualification of two other skaters in the finals to help her move into third behind fellow American Katherine Reutter. But she's not complaining, especially after what happened to her in the 1,000 qualifying rounds on Friday.
Just minutes before she was to skate, the race officials juggled the starting lists — leaving Baver on the outside begging the judges to wait just a minute for her to put her skates on and join the heat she was suddenly scheduled to compete in.
"I came here with the right to represent my country in that race and II feel that right was taken away from me."
No amount of protesting allowed her to race in the 1,000, though, and she had to put aside her disappointment for Saturday's events. She and Reutter became America's first podium with more than one medal this year. Prior to Reutter's silver, the best the U.S. had done in an individual race was a bronze.
The U.S. women took second in their 3,000 relay semifinal and will have a chance today to add to their medal count.
Apolo Anton Ohno also found himself on the podium after placing third in the 1,500.
Ohno found himself in his usual spot midway through the final and slowly began making his move around the outside. But with two Koreans in front of him, he was denied passage to the front on the last lap and despite a long look at replays by the race judge to determine if there was cause for a disqualification, Ohno had to settle for bronze.
It was his first individual world cup medal of the season, however, after he took much of the early season off and only recently rejoined his teammates on the ice.
Charles Ryan Leveille placed fourth.
The U.S. men were not lucky in the other races. Jeff Simon was DQ'd for impeding in his 500 semifinal victory, bumping him from the finals, while teammate J.P. Kepka could not match his semifinal victory and slipped with two laps to go, robbing him of his momentum and landing him in fourth place during the finals.
Recent comments
No, not related – a fan of the sport who saw Reutter win the Silver...
T. Dryden | Feb. 13, 2008 at 8:45 a.m.
Life isn't fair there T. Are you related to Katherine?
haha | Feb. 10, 2008 at 12:43 p.m.
Reutter gets a silver and you give the headline and story to Baver...
T. Dryden | Feb. 10, 2008 at 7:19 a.m.
