SPISSKA NOVA VES, Slovakia (Feb. 11, 2005)

– Saturday was the final day of the World Cup 6 and the U.S. men demonstrated their strength.

In the men’s 1000-meters Apolo Anton Ohno (Seattle, Wash.) took the win when leading into the final lap and holding off the charge of his three competitors. On the second to last turn Korea's Ahn Hyun Soo tried a pass on the outside, while Canada's Mathieu Turcotte attempted a pass on the inside. Turcotte, Ahn, and Canada's Steve Robillard were caught up in the traffic with Turcotte and Robillard falling. Since Ohno was in the lead, he was able to narrowly avoid the two Canadians falling. Ohno's winning time was 1:32.362, with Ahn in second in 1:32.901, and Robillard in third in 1:43.919.

 

Rusty Smith (Long Beach, Calif.) had three strong rounds of 1000-meters. However, he fell in the quarterfinals while contending for a qualifying position with one and a half laps to go. His time was 1:40.050. Mike Kooreman (Grand Rapids, Mich.) also qualified for the quarterfinals and finished third in his heat in a time of 1:27.767.

In the men’s 3000-meters final, Ohno took the lead going into the last lap closely pursued by Robillard, and Ahn. The Korean passed into the lead on the last corner, when Ohno attempted to pass him back at the line. After a photo
finish Ahn was victorious in a time of 5:15.453, with Ohno in second in a time of 5:15.465, and Robillard in third in a time of 5:15.731.

 

In the men’s 5000-meters relay event the U.S. team of Ohno, Smith, Kooreman, and Jordan Malone (Denton, Tex.) took the gold in a time of 6:46.801. After falling earlier in the race both the Koreans and the Canadians placed second and third, respectively in times of 6:46.960, and 6:52.327.

In the overall classification Ohno took the title with 89 points, with Robillard placing second with 68 points, and Ahn placing third with 55 points. Both Smith and Kooreman had strong performances finishing seventh and 22nd overall, respectively.

On the women’s side Allison Baver (Sinking Springs, Penn.) qualified for the quarterfinals in the 1000-meters and finished in a personal best time of 1:32.061, however finished third in the heat and did not advance. Hyo-Jung Kim (Fullerton, Calif.) was disqualified in her heat and did not qualify for the quarterfinals. Kristen Biondo (Broadview Heights, Oh.) did not make it through her preliminary round after finishing third in a time of 1:38.842.

In the ladies’ 3000-meters, Kim was the only U.S. skater to qualify. Kim fell early in the race and finished in eighth place in a time of 6:49.250. The event was won by Korea's Yeo Soo Yeon in 5:18.537.

In the ladies’ 3000-meters relay China won in a time of 4:18.116, Canada second in a time of 4:20.491, and Korea third in a time of 4:20.695.

In the overall, Americans Kim finished in eighth, Baver in 15th, and Biondo in 19th.

In the 2004-2005 overall World Cup Standings Ohno took the title with 4 wins and 2 second place finishes. Smith finished a very strong sixth overall. Baver finished sixth overall and Kim finished seventh.

 

The American men's team finished third in the relay ranking, and fourth in the team ranking. The American ladies finished fifth in the team ranking, and eighth in the relay ranking.

 

Results: (courtesy of www.isu.org. For more detailed information, please visit the web site.)

 

Ladies’ 1000-meters:

Americans: 10. A. Baver; 22. H. Kim; 28. K. Biondo

 

Ladies’ 3000-meters:

 

Ladies’ 3000-meters relay:

Americans: 8^th

 

Men’s 1000-meters:

Americans:

12. M. Kooreman: 15. R. Smith

 

Men’s 3000-meters:

 

 

Men’s 5000-meters relay: