Ohno pleased with podium finishes

KEARNS — A day earlier, Apolo Anton Ohno's 1,000-meter race ended with him losing the edge of his skate and sliding with a thud into the new pad system at the Utah Olympic Oval.

On Sunday afternoon, there would be no slipping, falling or crashing for Ohno. Only podiums.

"My goal was just to get into the finals," said Ohno, who noted he discovered a slight bend in his blade that led to his fall on Saturday. "I really wasn't that disappointed yesterday. I wanted to win, but the fall, it happens. I was skating well so I have to keep things in perspective."

Ohno anchored the men's 5,000 relay in the final event on Sunday at the short track speedskating World Cup and led his team to a second place finish behind the world-record pace set by the Korean team. It was the best finish for the American skaters, who were left trying to figure out a way to keep up with the powerful Korean team.

"I wouldn't call the weekend a disappointment at all," said Travis Jayner, one of the relay team members. "I think we were strong in almost every event. We didn't win like we wanted, but I think we did pretty well for this being the first meet of the year."

The relay finish capped off the event and saw the U.S. team overcome a couple of bad exchanges that had skaters going off balance and losing pace with the leaders. But Ohno, Jayner, Jeff Simon and J.R. Celski turned it on and closed the gap repeatedly. With a couple of laps to go, the American team slipped past Canada and held on for second with Korea well ahead of the pack.

"I think we got slowed down a little by the Russians. We lapped them and they kind of got in the way," Ohno said. "If not for that, I think it might have been different. Judging from the split times, I think our boys weren't that tired and we could have caught them."

Ohno's final chance for an individual win came in the men's 1,500. After taking the lead earlier than he normally likes to, Ohno faded back a little to wait for the race to develop in front of him.

But when Canada's Olivier Jean made a move, he placed his hand on Ohno's shoulder to create some space. That move earned Jean a DQ but also cost Ohno a lot of momentum and a gap opened between him and the leaders. Ohno was unable to recover from the situation in time and had to settle for third behind Korea's Lee Jung-Su and Lee Ho-Suk.

"I'm not worried about that right now," Ohno said. "We said this first meet was for us to learn where everyone else is and see how we can get better ... It's not how you start the season, it's how you finish it."

Ohno's two podium finishes offset a lackluster showing from the U.S. women.