Feb 10

Record Setting Weekend for U.S. Short Track Speedskating Team in Salt Lake City

February 10, 2008- Kearns, UT. Short Track speedskaters competing in the Samsun ISU World Cup Short Track event at the Utah Olympic Oval skated in front of a sold-out crowd on Saturday night. The crowd cheered on the U.S. skaters who set several new national records. Olympian Allison Baver (Sinking Springs, PA) set a U.S. National record in the Ladies 1500m semifinals with a time of 2:17.244. Chinese skater Yang Zhou set a new world record in the same event with a time of 2:16.279, eventually winning the gold. In the Ladies 1500m Finals, Katherine Reutter (Champaign, IL) took home the silver medal skating a fast 2:17.349 with Baver following close behind with a bronze medal and a time of 2:20.03. Earlier in the day, Lana Gehring set a Junior National record in the Ladies 500m. For the men, Jeff Simon (Long Beach, CA) started off the Men's 500m with a blazingly fast time of 41.068, just .002 away from the world record. Later in the 500m finals, Simon finished in first place but was disqualified for impeding. In the Men's 1500m, Ryan Leveille (Atlanta, GA), Apolo Anton Ohno (Seattle, WA) and Jordan Malone (Denton, TX) took first place in each of their heats. Ohno and Leveille continued on to the 1500m finals finishing third and fourth with respective times of 2:14.252 and 2:14.326. The Ladies 3000m Relay team, consisting of Baver, Reutter, Kimberly Derrick (Memphis, TN) and Carly Wilson (Jefferson City, MO), breezed through the semifinals with a time of 4:14.866, setting a new national record. They will meet up against Korea, China and Canada in Sunday's final. Korea's Ladies Relay team tore up the ice with a new world record time of 4:11.478. In the Men's 5000m Relay semifinals, Korea and China edged out the U.S. team consisting of Leveille, Malone, Ohno and Simon. Although Leveille fell during the relay, the U.S. team made a strong comeback finishing only hundredths of seconds behind the top two teams. Participating in the Men's 5000, Relay final on Sunday will be Korea, China, Russia and Great Britain. The U.S. Team will compete in the Men's B Final in the 5000m relay. Racing concludes for the last 2008 World Cup Short Track event on Sunday, February 10 For additional information please contact Kori Novak, Director, PR , Media at 801-417-5360 or media@usspeedskating.org About US Speedskating: US Speedskating is a nonprofit organization recognized by the United States Olympic Committee as the national governing body for the sport of Speedskating in the United States. To date, US Speedskating has won a total of 75 Olympic medals, making it the most successful winter sport in the USA. ####