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Disappointing night for Americans
By Maria Titze
Deseret News staff writer
It was a night of slips, false starts and missed opportunities Friday at the Delta Center. But the faux pas weren't entirely unexpected, since the men's and ladies' 500-meter is short-track speedskating's fastest, most intense race.
It was a disappointing night for the American team. It's star, Apolo Anton Ohno, was eliminated in the semifinals in a tight race with Canada's Eric Bedard — who won that race with a time of 41.802 seconds, just .275 of a second short of the world record.
The final was only a slightly slower race and saw Japan's Takafumi Nishitani take the gold with 41.821, Jiajun Li of China take the silver at 41.970, and Bedard the bronze with 42.058.
"It was a fast race," Ohno said later of the semifinal round. "There just wasn't much room for anything."
But the 19-year-old Seattle native did not appear shaken, having won the gold Thursday night in the 1500-meter and having the 1000-meter, his favorite race, to look forward to on Saturday.
"I'm not at my peak yet," he told reporters. "There's a long way to go to the Olympics."
This qualifying competition determines how many athletes each country can bring to the Games. Not until December at the Olympic trials will skaters compete for their spot on each country's Olympic team.
Another member of the U.S. team, Rusty Smith, made a valiant effort in the last stretch of a quarterfinal to stay alive, but slipped and fell before he reached the finish line. But he blamed this disqualification on the beginning of the race, not the end.
"My start was just not there today," he said.
Both men and women skaters were plagued by false starts. One ladies' semifinal was restarted three times before being completed.
The gold medal in the final round went to Bulgaria's Evgenia Radanova, who holds the world record in 500-meter and led the entire race, winning with a time of 44.360. seconds. Yang Yang (A) of China took the silver at 44.374, and the bronze went to Canada's Alanna Kraus with a time of 44.585. It was her first medal in world competition.
"I was having a great time," Kraus said after the race. "I felt lots of support from the crowd. In fact, I almost started doing the YMCA out there."
Among the 3,356 spectators Friday night were Olympic long track speedskating medalist Bonnie Blair Cruikshank and Olympic short track medalist Cathy Turner.
The qualifier competition continues Saturday at 6 p.m. with the 1000-meter competition and concludes Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m. with the men's and women's relays. Tickets are available at the Delta Center box office or by calling 325-SEAT.
E-MAIL: mtitze@desnews.com
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October 27, 2001
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