Road to Torino

The media is making much of the fact that Apolo Ohno stumbled in his first outing in Torino. He failed to advance to the 1500m medal final - the event he won gold in 4 years ago.

It's true that this is a big shock. Rarely does Apolo fail to make a final. Everyone was anticipating the matchup between Apolo and Korea's Hyun-soo Ahn and for sure it would have come down to the two of them if Apolo had been there. That matchup will have to wait for another day - and it will be something to see!

So what happened to Apolo? Simply put, he made a tactical mistake. In his semifinal he needed to finish in the top 2 to move on to the final. While sitting in 2nd, he decided to pass the Chinese skater in front of him, but found himself too far forward on his skates and stumbled (an extremely rare thing - no one is more graceful on ice skates than Apolo. Shhh - don't tell Sasha Cohen.).

With only a lap and a half to go when he stumbled, Apolo had no time to recover. So, why didn't Apolo just stay where he was, since the top 2 move on?

Because the guys behind him also wanted to move on to the medal final, and he knew they would try to pass him -- if that happened, he'd have no time left to work his way back into qualifying position. Chances are though, he could have stayed where he was and held them off. I saw him peek between his legs to see where the other guys were -- they weren't that close. I think Apolo's just got the Olympic jitters.

I'll tell you what though - no one comes from behind better than Apolo Ohno. Look for him to make noise in his 500m qualifying on Wednesday and to tear up the ice next Saturday in the 1000m - arguably his strongest distance.

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• #2 Comment from hecatelilith 
  2/13/06 6:22 PM | Permalink

  I think people (especially the press) need to realize and understand that Apolo is still ON and can easily walk away with a medal or two.     Still.    It's not over til it's "over", and something tells me Apolo is far from it!     He's just warming up. :D     I can think of nothing worse than vocally claiming that someone is "over" BEFORE the fact.     I hope Apolo makes them all live to regret it.      I hope he shuts them all....up and down!    
  
  Come on, Apolo!     You know the drill.     Shut 'em up...Shut 'em down...Repeat!     Viva  L'Apolo!     Oh, yes!    
• #1 Comment from thebonnerssix 
  2/13/06 8:58 AM | Permalink

  I had a hard time watching him skate last night, I was so nervous for him. This kid is so great. He has grown up to become such a great role model for all the aspiring speed skaters. I wish him the best and I would love to see him win a medal during these Olympic Games