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Strategy is key for short-track skaters
By Maria Titze
Deseret News Olympic specialist
Every short track speed skater has a slightly different approach to the 1,000-meter. Its longer-than-a-sprint, shorter-than-a-relay length makes it fertile ground for strategy.
Watch the Koreans. They like to hang back and make passes late. Two-time Olympian Marc Gagnon of Canada, on the other hand, seems to prefer a safer racing position and is usually in first or second from the beginning of the nine-laps.
And what about Americans Apolo Ohno and Rusty Smith, who are among the 16 men vying for a gold in the 1,000-meter tonight? What are their game plans?
"I won't tell you," U.S. coach Susan Ellis teased after practice Friday morning.
Ohno's performance Wednesday night revealed nothing but confidence.
"He was two hands behind his back with a smile on his face. It was easy," Ellis said, clearly pleased that the star athlete of the American team chose to play it safe in the first heat. He finished slightly behind Korea's Dong-Sung Kim, who won the gold medal in this event in Nagano in 1998.
Smith, who set an Olympic record Wednesday night in his heat, will face intense competition in the semifinal tonight against Kim and China's Jiajun Li, who claimed the silver in the 1,000-meter in Nagano.
The ladies will compete tonight in the shortest race in this sport, one American Caroline Hallisey calls her favorite.
"I love the 500-meter, because it's the most unpredictable," Hallisey said. "(In this race) I have a lot of confidence in what I'm able to do."
Ellis said Hallisey's performance in practice appears to have peaked in Salt Lake City. "Maybe she's not a medal favorite, but if there's one surprise, look for Caroline," Ellis said. "I've never seen her so hot."
Teammate Amy Peterson, who didn't make it out of the semifinals earlier this week in the 1,500-meter, also believes her best shot at a medal is in the 500-meter.
The unofficial world record holder in this event is two-time Olympian Evgenia Radanova of Bulgaria, who took a bronze medal Wednesday in the 1,500-meter. Yang Yang (A) of China has been the overall gold medalist in the last five world championships, and although she is hungry for Olympic gold in this race, she is often bested in this distance by her younger teammate, Yang Yang (S), no relation.
For the Korean team, which took the gold and the silver Wednesday in the 1,500-meter, Min-Jin Joo is another a favorite. Also look for young Canadian Alanna Kraus of Canada, who won her first international level medal in this event at the Olympic qualifiers in October and could stage a surprise upset.
The women will also race the semifinal of their relay tonight. The Korean, Chinese and Canadian teams are the most likely medal contenders.
E-mail: mtitze@desnews.com
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February 16, 2002
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