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U.S. men speedily skate to a silver
Korean women dominate last day of qualifier
By Maria Titze
Deseret News staff writer
Forty-five laps around a hockey rink is exhausting. Try it four times in one afternoon.
That's what the U.S. men's short-track speedskating relay team had to do Sunday to claim a silver medal in the final day of the short track Olympic qualifier at the Delta Center.
Knocked out of the running for a medal in the first heat by a hungry Japanese team, the American team went on to win the repechage, or consolation bracket race, putting them back in contention.
Anchored by Apolo Anton Ohno, the U.S. team won an exciting semi-final race, edging out Korea.
But in the relay final, Ohno could not close the gap between the U.S. and Korean teams and had to settle for the silver with a time of six minutes, 59.265 seconds.
The Korean team's gold medal time was 6:58.719 and Canada took third at 6:59.463.
The U.S. team's finish earned them a place at the Olympic Games in February, although as the team from the host country, they were ensured a spot anyway.
Team member Ron Biondo said the come-from-behind, silver finish "should make it clear that we are the team to beat."
The short-track relay puts 16 skaters on the ice at once. One skater from each of four teams races on the track and the remaining 12 mill round the ice in preparation for a changeover.
There are no rules governing who skates when and for how long, except that no changeover can be made in the final two laps of the race.
It was a golden night for the Korean team, whose ladies also finished first with a time of 4:15.598.
(The women's relay is 3000 meters, the men's is 5000 meters.)
China, who last weekend in Calgary broke the world record in this event, had to settle for silver with a time of 4:16.026. And again Canada claimed the bronze at 4:21.064.
The U.S. women finished last in both the initial heat and the repechage, but their home team status qualified them anyway.
"We've got our work cut out for us," admitted coach Susan Ellis, but added that the women's team is not entirely healthy, and there is still some time before the Olympics.
The weekend's events only determined 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.
Sunday afternoon's crowd was the smallest of the week at 2,257. But 10,313 total spectators attended the four-day competition, which started Thursday.
E-MAIL: mtitze@desnews.com
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October 29, 2001
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