The preliminary day and the first day of world cup racing have come and gone. One day of racing left in the fall series of world cups. The start of this world cup went smoothly for Jessica Hewitt and Richard Shoebridge as they qualified through the prelims to the world cup rounds.
Jessica Gregg went smoothly through to the world cup in the 500m but had some trouble in the 1000m. An inside pass she started was forced extremely inside by a Russian skater and Jessica was stuck with little room to move. She clicked skates with the Russian and fell, also taking out a Korean and earning a DQ in the process.
The first world cup day ended up being short for both Hewitt and Shoebridge as they were both eliminated in the quarter-finals. Although race strategies were being executed very well by both skaters, their races proved to be just too fast. In Hewitt's race, Chinese skater Liu Quihong and Korean Yang Shin-Young kept the pace quick from the start, not allowing Hewitt or Ekaterina Belova from Russia the chance to move.
Richard was skating very well in his quarter-final against American J.R. Celski, French skater Thibault Fauconnet and Korean Lee Ho-Suk. Well positioned with only a couple of laps to go, Shoei was overtaken by some crafty moves on Lee Ho-Suk's part. Celski also took advantage and the rounds ended there unfortunately for Shoebridge.
Shoebridge and Gregg are both in the 500m events today and Hewitt in the second 1500m of the weekend. Both Canadian teams are in the relay A-Finals as well.
This morning, the skaters and team members not at the rink for the repechage rounds are going through their typical routines of breakfast and visiting the lobby for more reliable internet access. I think one benefit of wireless internet in the lobby; people stay less stuck in their rooms and tend to mingle and socialize more. Besides, the rooms are small and even non-claustrophobics would want to get out of the room for a bit.
In my free-time I've been walking around town in Nagano. I really like how the people make you feel welcome when you enter their stores or restaurants. The feeling in Beijing was completely different. Almost as if it didn't matter that you were there. I'm guessing the rather large population in Beijing was the main reason for the lack of interaction with the locals. In Nagano, it really feels like a city where you can enjoy the lifestyle and the company without feeling the need to simply jump from one tourist attraction to the next.
Two more hours and we head to the rink. One more chance to walk around the city and explore before getting down to the business of sport.
JC
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