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Ohno's loss helps friend qualify
Long-shot Davis wins race for Olympic spot
By Maria Titze
Deseret News staff writer
KEARNS — The last day of the short track Olympic trials was as much about who did not make the U.S. team and why as who did.
Former Olympian Tommy O'Hare of St. Louis narrowly missed a spot after the men ranked first and second in the overall standings — Apolo Anton Ohno of Seattle and Rusty Smith of Sunset Beach, Calif. — lost the 1,000-meter final to a skater who had been ranked eighth and had not placed in the top three in any event in the competition thus far.
Shani Davis, a native of Chicago, is now the first African-American to compete at the Olympics in short track speedskating.
"I'm overwhelmed with joy right now," Davis said after the race. "I've never seen my mom cry. She's so happy."
The 19-year-old said he awoke Saturday morning knowing he needed 987 points to make it on the team. He would have to take first place in the last race of the event, the 1,000-meter; second or third place would not give him enough points.
About halfway through that final race, Ohno — who up to this point had not lost so much as one heat in the entire competition — appeared to lose his footing behind Davis and Smith. He never closed the gap, as he had in so many races before.
"I thought I'd play it safe. I had no reason to push too hard," Ohno later explained. The 2001 men's World Cup overall champion had already secured his spot on the team.
This mar on an otherwise perfect competition left some to discreetly wonder if Ohno might have failed to skate his best to give someone he called "one of my friends, for sure" a spot on the U.S. Olympic team.
When asked if she thought Ohno had given his best effort in the race, U.S. coach Susan Ellis answered only, "I question that. But I'm not out there skating."
Ellis said O'Hare left the Olympic oval "too upset to talk."
"Tommy's been part of this team for a long time," she said. "He brought a lot of strength to this team. I'm really unhappy for Tommy, but I'm also happy for Shani that he made it."
Ellis admitted Davis is much less experienced than O'Hare but said the team still has remarkable depth. "I can't count all the World Cup medals between them," she said.
Davis was first introduced to the sport when his mother worked for Fred Benjamin, president of U.S. Speedskating.
"He deserved to win," Benjamin said after the race, saying Davis has an unmatched work ethic. "Talk to the other athletes. He deserves everything he's got."
Benjamin also said he hopes that with Davis on the team, "the African-American community sees this as another alternative to sport."
Joining Ohno, Smith and Davis on the men's team will be Ron Biondo of Broadview Heights, Ohio, J.P. Kepka of St. Louis and Daniel Weinstein of Brookline, Mass.
Ohno and Smith hold the two skating positions in each of the three individual events. Biondo will skate as an alternate. Two of the remaining three skaters could compete in the relay event at the Games in February.
The ladies team includes Amy Peterson of Maplewood, Minn., Caroline Hallisey from Natick, Mass.; Erin Porter of Saratoga Springs, N.Y.; Julie Goskowicz of Colorado Springs; Allison Baver of Sinking Spring, Penn.; and Mary Griglak of Berea, Ohio.
Peterson, Hallisey and Porter will each skate in two of the individual events.
Brigid Farrell of Saratoga Springs came up one spot short of making the team.
In addition to that disappointment, Farrell suffered a puncture wound to the left lower chest after being hit by a skate blade after a crash with Baver in one of the final heats. She bled through her uniform, but finished the race. She was treated at the oval and did not need stitches.
"She's got a lot of guts," Ellis said of her performance. "Hopefully she'll stick around for another four years."
E-mail: mtitze@desnews.com
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December 23, 2001
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