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Ohno wins men's 1,500-meter qualifier
By Maria Titze
Deseret News staff writer
Here's a little advice for short-track speedskating spectators from the father of a gold-medal hopeful:
Sit at the ends of the arena.
"It's a game of who owns the ice," explained Yuki Ohno of Seattle, in Salt Lake City to watch his son Apolo compete in this weekend's Olympic qualifier.
While the sidelines are fine for your average fan, a view of the turns taken at either end of the ice lets you "see technique," the elder Ohno said.
More than 2,000 short-track enthusiasts got to see plenty of technique from the 19-year-old Ohno, who skated to victory in the 1,500-meter race Thursday at the Delta Center.
Italy's Nicola Rodigari sprinted to a commanding lead late in the race, but Ohno quickly closed the gap and took the gold with a time of 2 minutes, 25.795 seconds. Korea's Dong-Sung Kim claimed the silver at 2:26.257, with Rodigari eventually finishing third at 2:26.334.
Comments about the ice at the Delta Center were as prevalent as critiques of athletic performance on this first night of competition.
That's because this is the first and only chance 170 skaters from 33 countries will have to skate at what will be the venue for short track speed skating during the Olympics in February.
"(The skaters) know this is their one and only opportunity to get a feel for everything," said Nick Paulenich, spokesman for U.S. Speedskating.
There were no complaints from Ohno. "In such a big arena, it's hard to control the ice temperature, but the guys here seem to be doing a good job," he said.
The competition this weekend determines how many athletes each country can bring to the Games.
The Olympic trials — where individual athletes compete for a spot on their country's Olympic team — will be held at the speedskating oval in Kearns in December after World Cup events in Bulgaria and the Netherlands.
Thursday night did not bring victory for another American skater, Rusty Smith, who was eliminated in the semi-finals of the 1,500 meters.
On the women's side, neither U.S. skater — Amy Peterson and Erin Porter — made it to the final round.
The gold medal went to 16-year-old Gi-Hyun Ko of Korea, who skated to a winning time of 2:27.709. The silver to Evgenia Radanova at 2:27.764 and the bronze to Yang Yang (A) of China at 2:27.891.
The 500-meter competition, arguably the most exciting race in the event, is scheduled tonight. Other short-track races are the 1,000 meters, scheduled to start at 6 p.m. Saturday, and the relays, set for 1 p.m. Sunday.
E-MAIL: mtitze@desnews.com
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October 26, 2001
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