Run, Karla, Run!

VANCOUVER, British Columbia–It’s the final night of short track speed skating, aka the most exciting thing to happen on ice since the margarita.

First up is the men’s 500m race and then the men’s 5000m relay. The star of the show is none other than the defending Olympic champion Apolo Anton Ohno. I’ll be bringing you the action live from the Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver.

Here in Vancouver, the men’s action will alternate with the women’s 1000 meter event, which my colleague in Olympic arms, Jason Black, will bring to you on his blog, Fade to Black.

We’ve just had some excitement in the press tribune when an access control box caught on fire. Is a portent of hot things to come? I hope so.

500m

The 500 meters is a test of raw speed. Along with his 2006 Olympic gold, Ohno is the 2008 World Champion at the distance.

“The 500 meters is a totally different race,” Ohno said. “It’s much faster than any of the other races. A lot of skaters are able to skate the 500 very well, but they couldn’t hang in the 1000. It’s going to bring a whole new depth of speed and strategy for these races.”

Ohno already has a bronze and silver medal at these games and is the most decorated short track skater in the history of the sport. Can he keep the momentum going with a gold here?

“Life has certainly changed,” he said about his historic wins in Vancouver. “But I’m still here. The Olympics isn’t over yet. I am representing the USA. I want to race my best all the way through.”

The Ohno haters have questioned whether he’s too old for a race like the 500. But Ohno would like to beg to differ.

“I’d like to think that I have more [speed],” Ohno said. “I’m going to need more if I want to make the final.”

His biggest challenger might be Canada’s Charles Hamelin. The 500m is his specialty and he’ll be looking for a home country win. He is the 2007 and 2009 World Champion, and is currently ranked best in the world.

Also looking to challenge the “Sultan of Skate” is Si-Bak Sung, the world record holder in the event.

No skater from a nation other than Korea, USA, Canada or China has made it to a men’s medal final so far. And that’s not likely to change here, but the best chance comes from Thibaut Fauconnet of France. American Simon Cho is the underdog here. He’s ranked eighth in the world, but doesn’t have much big race experience.

“This is my first actual season racing as a member of the national team so no one really has any expectations of me,” Cho said. “I’m here to do my best and I try to consider myself a dark horse.”

Will Cho and Ohno make the finals and skate to Olympic glory? Stay tuned!

6:00 Pm: The first heat of the quarter finals is on the ice including Hamelin, Cho and Sung. Cho puts up a good fight, but skates out just before the finish. Hamelin and Sung will advance to the semifinals. And Hamelin sets a new Olymic record. The Canadian crowd loves that.

6:02 pm: Ohno is in the next heat. Here’s what he says to look for:

“You’ll see that there’s very little space for passing,” he said. “If you [are in fourth] off the line, if you’re not a really small guy and there’s not a lot of room, chances are you might be stuck there the whole race. That’s why a lot of these guys have these explosive starts. It’s going to be very important.”

Ohno is in fourth and benefits from a crash moving into second! Ohno and Eley Jon of Great Britain will advance to the semifinal. Phew!

6:05 pm: The third heat is on the ice. The crowd is cheering for Canda’s Olivier Jean who finishes second, advancing to the semifinals along with Ho-Suk Lee of Korea.

6:09 pm: The third heat is off. Francois-Louis Tremblay of Canada and Yoon-Gy Kwak of Korea will advance to the semis, which are looking heavily stacked with Canadians and Koreans.

6:15 pm: Ohno is the only American in the semifinals, but the U.S. was the location of the first international short track meet back in 1976 in Champaign, Ill.

6:43 pm: We’re back and ready for the semifinals. The first group is on the ice, which includes Hamelin and Jean of Canada and Sung of Korea. They’re off. Jean puts up a good fight but gets edged out by Sung. Hamelin finishes first and Sung second to move onto the medal final.

6:47 pm: Now Ohno will take the ice, skating from a tough outside starting position. Lee and Kwak of Korea will try to edge him out, along with Tremblay of Canada. They toe the ice and the gun. Ohno jumps into third right away. Ohno benefits from a crash into second and then passes Tremblay to move into first! Ohno and Tremblay move into the final leaving both Koreans in the dust! Wow, that was a race worth rewatching. Ohno knows how to maneuver like a chess master. I already can’t wait for the final.

These guys move fast–up to 37 mph. Their gloves have tips made of carbon fiber or nickel so that they can balance on their left hand but continue flying across the ice.

7:13 pm: The men’s final is up next and the annoucers are revving up the crowd. Prince’s “Let’s Go Crazy” is playing over the loudspeaker. The annoucer calls off the names of each nation, calling for cheers. Canada and the U.S. get the biggest and France actually gets booed.

7:15 pm: First up is the B Final that decides 5th through 8th place. Lee gets a slow start and is moving so slowly he almost appears to not be racing. Kwak finishes first, followed by Heung of Germany.

7:18 pm: Here we go, the final individual men’s medals will be decided right here. Hamelin, Sung, Tremblay and Ohno are on the line. Ohno is wearing his signature bandana under his helmet. And the crowd is manic for Canada. With two racers in the final, they’re guaranteed at least one medal. Ohno will start in position three, and the crowd loves him too.

7:21 pm: And they’re racing! Ohno gets a slow start and is in fourth. There’s a big crash–Sung and Tremblay slide out and Ohno cruises across the line in second and Hamelin in first! Will it stand? Or will the refs call someone out? The crowd is going bananas. The refs are taking a long time to look at the footage and decide. And Ohno is disqualified!!! Canada wins gold and bronze, Sund takes silver. And once again the crowd is going bonkers.

Wow, Ohno disqualified. The official story: He tried to find room on the inside of the track going into the final turn, but made contact with Tremblay. Tremblay went sliding, taking Sung with him. Ohno was in fourth, so he didn’t have a medal to lose, but thems the breaks in short track. Ohno will have one more chance to medal tonight in the men’s 5000m relay.

5000m relay

7:27 pm: The American men are the reigning World Champions in the men’s 5000m relay. They’re looking to convert that into Olympic gold. Skating for the U.S. will be J.R. Celski, Travis Jayner, Jordan Malone and Apolo Ohno. Five teams will be in the hunt in what looks like a two-ring circus, with 20 skaters on the ice, though only four will race at a time.

“There’s going to be a lot of skaters out there,” Ohno said. “People watching back home will be like, ‘What the hell is going on? There are too many people on the ice.’ But we know what’s going on. Just watch the last four laps, that’s all that really matters. It’s like an NBA game. Just kind of show up and see if it’s tied or not.”

The U.S. team is young and green, but they have gravitas in their anchor Ohno.

“I’m very confident in our relay team, even though we’re young, we’ve got a lot of experience, especially having Apolo on our team,” Cho said.

“I’m very excited about our relay,” Ohno said. “We have such a young team. I’d love to be able to share a medal with these guys.”

It’s going to be tough. Korea and Canada are the heavy favorites. Korea is the defending gold medalist and Canada the silver. But Canada won both 1998 and 2002 and is looking to reclaim their crown. Hamelin called it the “pride we lost at the last Olympics.” But Canada hasn’t won an individual medal at these games, whereas Korea has dominated short track and holds the world relay record.

But the U.S. is feeling confident that they can win their first Olympic relay gold.

“We have a really strong team going in, and we’ve built up a lot of confidence in the weeks during the Olympics,” said Celski. “Medals are anyone’s for the taking, but I think we’re going to walk away with one.”

The key will be making the most of a difficult fourth starting position on the outside of the track.

“It’s all going to be about position right off the start,” Celski said. “We have a tough starting position, but hopefully we can get up in the front, because that’s where you’re going to win the race – in the beginning.”

Rounding out the field are China and France, who received a bye into the final after a crash. They’d need to “pull a Bradbury” to get a medal and literally be the last team left standing, but if it happened for Australia’s Steven Bradbury in 2002, it could happen for France here.

7:53 pm: The relay B Final is up. Germany and Great Britain will be going head to head in a battle for 6th and 7th place. I like the swirl on the back of Great Britain’s uniforms.

7:55 pm: 5000m on a short track means a lot of laps: 50 to be exact. The skaters tag each other in with a bump on the butt. And watching this I’m always amazed that there aren’t more crashes than there are.

8:00 pm: With 9 laps to go, it’s still a tight race with Germany in the lead. And with 1 lap to go, Great Britain sneaks in and just edges out Germany! What a finish. But the big show is yet to come. Sweepers are on the ice wiping away the slush and the medal Final is about to take the ice.

8:02 pm: Here they come! Time for the big show! The 5000m relay final. The crowd is chanting, “Go, Canada, Go!” This place is on fire.

8:05 pm: Lots of Americans in the crowd too. It’s about to get really loud in here. First up for the U.S. is Celski, then Malone and back to Celski with the U.S. in fourth. Then to Jaynor and then Ohno. Skaters can bump each other in and out throughout the race.

8:10 pm: At the halfway mark, the U.S. is still in fourth. France is way behind. Canada is in the lead followed by China, Korea and the U.S. The crowd is cheering, “Let’s Go Canada!”

At lap 13, Canada takes a big lead. But Korea closes the gap in second. And now China moves into second. The U.S. is still in fourth. The US moves into third and the crowd goes bonkers!

Canada wins! And I think I’m about to go deaf. Korea finishes second and the U.S. third!

Apolo Ohno now has his third medal of these games and his eighth overall.

This might be the loudest crowd I’ve ever heard. Between the Canadian fans, the Korean fans and the American fans, this place is out of control. I think this is the first time I’ve seen Canada win gold in person. There probably has never been an outpouring of Candian patriotism like the one seen at these games. It’s really fun to see.

Medal Ceremonies

The medal ceremonies will be happening in a few mintues. First is the men’s 500m medals. The coliseum is rumbling as Charles Hamelin steps up to the podium to accept his gold medal. With two golds in the final two men’s short track events, Canada is owning this podium.

And if I ever wondered what the words to “O, Canada” are, I now know. The entire crowd is singing. “Oh, Canada! We stand on guard for thee!”

And now, the men’s 5000m relay final. Canada, you’ve done it again. The Canadian short track skaters hail from Quebec. I’m sure Montreal and Quebec city will come alive tonight.

Team USA just received their bronze medals. Ohno gets a huge cheer.

Team Canada kisses the podium in unison before they step up. They look ecstatic.

This time when the crowd sings “O, Canda” I hear a mix of French and English.

The 2010 Olympic short track is over, ending in a victory for the host country. But Ohno won his eighth medal for the U.S., and it was as usual, a crazy ride.

That’s all for tonight, but tomorrow I’ll be coming to you live from long track speed skating, where the U.S. will go for gold in the Team Pursuit.

This post first appeared on The Washington Times Communities on Feb. 26, 2010.