Short Track Speed Skating World Cup # 5

February 13, 2003 7:32 PM

Remember the 2002 Winter Olympics? This time last year, Apolo Ohno was making his Olympic debut as the wunderkind of short track speed skating. A year later, Apolo and the U.S. team were back in Salt Lake City, February 7-9, 2003 for ISU World Cup # 5. Here's an account from a hardcore short track fan who attended, which expresses the excitement of experiencing World Cup competition live. You can watch the competition this Saturday, February 15 on NBC at 2 p.m. EST.
posted by eclectica (4 comments total)

Ah, Feb, 2002... Anton Ohno... Watching us Canadians kick his ass around the rink. Good times.

Seriously: Short-track speed skating is one of the reasons I look forward to winter games. No matter the victor, it's always interesting and good to watch. But it's a typical Olympic-only pastime, fun during the games, forgotten at other times.
posted by lupus_yonderboy at 8:11 PM on February 13, 2003

I was there for the competition last weekend, and the Canadians did kick butt on Friday and Saturday. They were so good, even we U.S. fans were cheering them on. The tide turned, fortunately, on Sunday and the U.S. team was in fine fettle and won silver in the men's 5000m relay. Apolo came back, stronger than ever, and took the gold in both the 1000m and the 3000m.

But it's a typical Olympic-only pastime, fun during the games, forgotten at other times.

Well, now that short track is getting coverage on NBC, it looks like that is changing. The more that people see short track, the bigger the audience will get. Short track is so much more exciting to watch than, say, golf, bowling, or billiards, in my opinion.

If you ever have the opportunity to go to a short track competition, check it out. You won't be disappointed! Here's a competition schedule.
posted by eclectica at 8:55 PM on February 13, 2003

Short track is the best! I wish we could have gone, but, alas, the wife was too sick. :-(
posted by Plunge at 9:49 PM on February 13, 2003

The OhnoZone is run by my good friend, Todd.
posted by me3dia at 2:57 PM on February 14, 2003