Groves clutches the bronze by 0.03 seconds. A nailbiter to the last second was the women's 3000.
Groves clutches the bronze by 0.03 seconds. A nailbiter to the last second was the women's 3000.
I find it funny how the American media is all over Apolo Ohno b/c through a stroke of dumb luck he captured a silver medal, the Koreans should have gotten the 1-2-3 sweep b/c their skating skills are superior to Apolo's. As usual Apolo was far from a class act in the post-race interview giving ZERO credit to the WINNER of the race Lee Jung-Soo. And why the heck is the media anointing him as the goat of short track speed skating? the most basic of wikipedia searches will reveal how far behind he is in terms of world championship / world cup medals, etc. and let's not forget he only has TWO olympic gold medals out of the 6 he has earned so far. It's almost saying something like Andy roddick is the best tennis player ever b/c he was the runner-up at so many wimbledons!! who cares about Roger Federer he's not AMERICAN so therefore he's not a good tennis player.
He even had the audacity to make the following comments:
"A day later, after watching videotape of the race, he was spicier in his comments, claiming the Koreans impeded him and cost him a chance for gold. "With about 1 1/2 laps to go, (Lee) put his left hand over and blocked me. That's where I lost a lot of my speed,'' Ohno said. "If that didn't happen, the outcome would have been much different. I felt like all three of them were trying to line up behind me. When I was bumped, I felt impeded on. At that point, I had so much speed, there definitely was a distinction between me and the rest of the racers. That bump helped the two Koreans behind us and helped close the gap."
I find the above comments very ironic given how many times he's cheated his way onto a podium. He absolutely refuses to give any credit to his opponents and makes disgraceful comments like above and makes baseless accusations of cheating when he is known to the rest of the world as the king of cheating.
He went on to say:
"I proved the power that I've brought to these Games. I've proved my strength and that I'm a much different skater than in the past," he said. "I think that created some of the fear and confusion in the final; (his rivals) know that I'm stronger. I have many more events to compete in here, and I think I have an incredible opportunity that I could medal in three more."
There was no confusion Mr. Ohno, contrary to what you think all the Koreans outskated you and were able to pass you because they know you're slow and have poor skating skills, Lee Ho-Suk got greedy and made a careless error.
CONGRATULATIONS LEE JUNG SU ON YOUR FIRST OLYMPIC GOLD MEDAL!!! AWESOME PERFORMANCE YOU OBLITERATED YOUR COMPETITORS! I AM SO HAPPY THAT YOU WERE ABLE TO PROVE TO THE WORLD THAT YOU NEED ACTUAL SKILL AND ATHLETICISM TO PASS THE THRESHOLD OF MEDIOCRITY AND WIN THE TREASURED MYTHICAL GOLD MEDAL!!!!!!!!
Last edited by wonbinfan86; 02-14-2010 at 09:51 PM.
Well...that was rude. I heard him congratulate the gold medalist in at least a couple of interviews. Oh and like the Koreans have never cheated. And he's slow and has poor skating skills? LOL. Um...wow. I guess that's why he is tied for the most medals of any Olympian. Occasionally there are sloppy wins but I'm betting had the tables been turned, Lee Jung Su wouldn't have turned the medal down. So yes, congrats to Lee Jung Su but to say that Apolo cheated his way to where he is and that he has no skill and athleticism just takes the cake. To say that he cheated his way through is basically calling all the judges cheaters too then isn't it?
From Apolo's twitter last night:
#
Apolo Anton Ohno Congrat to Lee-Jung Su for winning the 1500m today--big congrats to JR for grabbing the Bronze! Wow Koreans are strong as always.
Last edited by Justafan; 02-14-2010 at 11:49 PM.
I follow the sport and Ohno is infamous to non-american skaters for his ungentlemanly behavior during competitions.
However, I don't think it is only Ohno who cheats. Every skater does their best to win and it's judges' role to detect it and penalize it properly. Ohno's Korean coach admitted in an interview (i think it was 2~3 years ago) that he taught his skaters on cheating skills and the only skater he recognized for clean technique was Hyunsoo Ahn. Therefore, I guess others cheat, too.
I think Ohno is a great skater. Whether he's lucky (or cheating) or not, it's never easy to earn so many medals. If there's anything i don't like about him, however, is his arrogance. Whenever he makes mistakes or does not well, he claims he has been impeded when it is not exactly true. When he gets a medal by luck (by wrong judgment or others' mistakes), he doesn't simply appreciate it, but goes further saying it was a rightful judgement or he deserves more (i.e. gold medal this time).
Thank god the Korean team is entangled in factional strife. It's really sad as a short track skating fan that I cannot see Ahn (the true genius and the victim of the stupidity of political power game), but Ohno will be able to set up the record without much difficulty.
"Good luck" to all the athletes who deserve to medal
I agree w/you here. It's usually the Koreans who make the races exciting with their crazy moves and spectacular skating skills. But as usual NBC gives only credit to Ohno and completely ignores the Koreans in the race.Originally Posted by wonbinfan86
Maybe the Koreans were lucky in this case that NBC decided not to make an issue of their "Keystone Cops" imitation.
I mean how ridiculous was it that they bungled that race ?
I don't watch enough of this sport to really know the rules but I was sure Apollo was bumped and knocked of his stride in the final - just as I am sure I thought Apollo bumped another skater in one of his preliminary races.
Hopefully the officials get it right most of the time but I would not be surprised if there is favoritism and politics in this exciting and crazy sport.
Last edited by janetfan; 02-15-2010 at 10:20 AM.
Uh have ever watched short track? I can tell you it gets no where to this excitement level when there are no Koreans in a race and I've watched A LOT of races.
If you don't watch short track, you have no idea what's go on.I don't watch enough of this sport to really know the rules but I was sure Apollo was bumped and knocked of his stride in the final - just as I am sure I thought Apollo bumped another skater in one of his preliminary races.
Hopefully the officials get it right most of the time but I would not be surprised if there is favoritism and politics in this exciting and crazy sport
And yeah, Apolo actually cheated once again, when he pushed Lee Jung Su in the quarter-final heats. Lee lost his balance and almost fell. Apolo should have been called for interference and DQ'd, and never have qualified for the 1500m finals. But as usual, the judges sided with Apolo reminiscent of what happened at '02.
When is this guy going to retire? I respect Canadian racers 1000% more than Apolo. At least, they run clean races.
Last edited by Figure88; 02-15-2010 at 03:22 PM.
I admitted I am no expert and only watch every four years. But even that much is enough to recognize the colossal mistake made by a Korean skater at the end of the race.
He cost his country two medals and handed two medals on a silver platter to USA.
I think he is the story of that race and not Apollo.
True, it was idiotic move by Lee Ho-Suk to pass the other Korean cuz he got greedy and didn't want to settle for bronze. But that does not happen in most races. Actually, it's the first time I've seen anything like that kind happen.
It is certainly not the "nature" of the race as the NBC makes it out to be.
Last edited by Figure88; 02-15-2010 at 09:45 AM.
I also miss Ahn! I was surprised that he wasn't here but then I read about the internal conflict in Korean team. So unfortunate because he was the best and kinda cute too.I follow the sport and Ohno is infamous to non-american skaters for his ungentlemanly behavior during competitions.
However, I don't think it is only Ohno who cheats. Every skater does their best to win and it's judges' role to detect it and penalize it properly. Ohno's Korean coach admitted in an interview (i think it was 2~3 years ago) that he taught his skaters on cheating skills and the only skater he recognized for clean technique was Hyunsoo Ahn. Therefore, I guess others cheat, too.
I think Ohno is a great skater. Whether he's lucky (or cheating) or not, it's never easy to earn so many medals. If there's anything i don't like about him, however, is his arrogance. Whenever he makes mistakes or does not well, he claims he has been impeded when it is not exactly true. When he gets a medal by luck (by wrong judgment or others' mistakes), he doesn't simply appreciate it, but goes further saying it was a rightful judgement or he deserves more (i.e. gold medal this time).
Thank god the Korean team is entangled in factional strife. It's really sad as a short track skating fan that I cannot see Ahn (the true genius and the victim of the stupidity of political power game), but Ohno will be able to set up the record without much difficulty.
"Good luck" to all the athletes who deserve to medal
Dissing Apolo's historic accomplishments because he only has 2 Olympic golds out of his six? He's automatically less of a competitor because he has only 2 Olympic golds? Then I guess that makes Michelle Kwan less of a figure skater because she does not have any Olympic golds to her name. It's the same argument. BTW, wonbinfan86, where are YOUR SIX OLYMPIC MEDALS? Oh, that's right, you don't have any!
So Apolo is "slow and has poor skating skills." No athlete gets to his level because they have poor speed and skills. If he became the most decorated US Winter Olympian of all time, then maybe I could surpass his record with my basic skating skills and even slower speed!!
Wikipedia certainly has a reputation as the most accurate and reliable source ever!the most basic of wikipedia searches
If you don't like Apolo, don't watch Short Track, it's as simple as that. It's amazing, you don't watch the man's sport, you won't see so much of him--what an incredible idea!!
Last edited by SweetPea21307; 02-15-2010 at 05:11 PM.
I believe Apollo is also the most decorated short track skater in Olympic history. Do any other short track skaters have 6 Olympic medals?
There a TON of reasons people watch short track besides to follow Apolo. I certainly do not follow the sport to watch him. In fact, I cringe whenever I see him race because of the type of shenanigans he tries to pull on other skaters, particularly Korean skaters because judges just seem to gives him the green light to do that. BTW, you should also look into how he won the medals before you talk about how great he is. His only good race was the 500m at Torino, and it still looked as if he false started there.
If you don't like Apolo, don't watch Short Track, it's as simple as that. It's amazing, you don't watch the man's sport, you won't see so much of him--what an incredible idea!!
Only 2 gold, and he won the medals just because he's the only racer to have participated in 3 Olympics, not necessarily through superior talent.I believe Apollo is also the most decorated short track skater in Olympic history. Do any other short track skaters have 6 Olympic medals?
Last edited by Figure88; 02-15-2010 at 06:05 PM.
No they do not, that is why APOLO is the most decorated short track skater in Olympic history.
It's a little depressing to think that I need to stop watching a sport because one doesn't like one man involved in it. You know, of the hundreds of people who participate. I have no animosity towards him as I've seen him skate only a couple times, but to dismiss an entire sport (as you suggest) seems like an absurd idea.If you don't like Apolo, don't watch Short Track, it's as simple as that. It's amazing, you don't watch the man's sport, you won't see so much of him--what an incredible idea!!
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