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
Saturday, December 6, 2008
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Beijing to Nagano
We traveled from Beijing to Nagano on the 1st of December. An interesting flight to Tokyo as the gentlemen next to me got sick during landing. He was quite discrete about it but I noticed he left the barf bag in the seat-back pocket!
We took a bus from Tokyo to Nagano, a 4 hour trip that went by fairly quick. It's quite amazing here in Nagano. It has a great view of the mountains, whose trees are turning all sorts of fall colours. There are traditional Japanese houses, zen-like yards and temples around town. We visited a national treasure today, the Zenkoji Temple.
The temple is Buddhist, but it welcomes any person of any religion. I wish we had tour guide while visiting the temple grounds. I'm sure there are many interesting facts that will stay completely unknown to me now.
For the most part the team is looking good. Gilday is having some back troubles and has taken some time off. Whether or not he skates this weekend in Japan will depend on how he feels tomorrow and Friday morning. It's odd in a way. Last year when Gilday didn't qualify for the first 4 world cups, he was brought to Japan as a replacement for someone injured. This time in he's the one that may miss the opportunity to race. Life has a funny way of unfolding I guess.
Racing this weekend will begin as usual with the preliminary races on Friday. Jessica Gregg will be skating a 500m and 1000m. Jessica Hewitt with race the 1000m and 1500m. Richard Shoebridge is entered into the 500m and 1000m while Gilday will race the 1500m twice.
Sayonara for now.
JC
We took a bus from Tokyo to Nagano, a 4 hour trip that went by fairly quick. It's quite amazing here in Nagano. It has a great view of the mountains, whose trees are turning all sorts of fall colours. There are traditional Japanese houses, zen-like yards and temples around town. We visited a national treasure today, the Zenkoji Temple.
The temple is Buddhist, but it welcomes any person of any religion. I wish we had tour guide while visiting the temple grounds. I'm sure there are many interesting facts that will stay completely unknown to me now.
For the most part the team is looking good. Gilday is having some back troubles and has taken some time off. Whether or not he skates this weekend in Japan will depend on how he feels tomorrow and Friday morning. It's odd in a way. Last year when Gilday didn't qualify for the first 4 world cups, he was brought to Japan as a replacement for someone injured. This time in he's the one that may miss the opportunity to race. Life has a funny way of unfolding I guess.
Racing this weekend will begin as usual with the preliminary races on Friday. Jessica Gregg will be skating a 500m and 1000m. Jessica Hewitt with race the 1000m and 1500m. Richard Shoebridge is entered into the 500m and 1000m while Gilday will race the 1500m twice.
Sayonara for now.
JC
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)