The American short track speed skaters finished their first World Cup event last weekend, proving the U.S. will remain a powerful force on the ice.
The Fall 2010 U.S. Short Track Team won an impressive 10 medals at the season-opening ISU World Cup in Montreal. 2010 Olympic silver and bronze medalist Katherine Reutter (Champaign, Ill.) was first to medal with a win in the second women's 1,500-meter A final. Crossing the finish with a time of 2:24.540, Reutter topped Marie-Eve Drolet of Canada and Yang Zhou of China, finishing in 2:24.726 and 2:24.937, respectively.
2010 Olympic bronze medalist Travis Jayner (Midland, Mich.) skated to a silver in the second men's 1,500-meter A final with a time of 2:23.496, behind Guillaume Bastille of Canada, who finished with a winning time of 2:23.374. Simon Cho (Laurel, Md.), the 2010 Olympic bronze medalist, took silver in the men's 500-meter race, finishing in 42.076. He finished just behind Canadian Charles Hamelin, who won the race with a time of 41.720. Teammate Jeff Simon (Las Vegas, Nev.) won the B final with a time of 42.065, placing fifth in the 500-meter distance.
"I was very happy with my performance in the 500," said Cho. "My silver medal performance in the 1,500 yesterday was a big confidence-booster, and I used that confidence in my race today."
In the relay events, the ladies' squad (Reutter, Lana Gehring of Glenview, Ill,, Alyson Dudek of Hales Corners, Wisc., and Jessica Smith of Melvindale, Mich., took silver with a time of 4:17.550, behind China. The men's team — Jeff Simon, Cho, Jayner and Kyle Carr (Peach Tree City, Ga.) — finished third at 7:07.511, behind Canada (7:05.828) and France (7:07.235).
The U.S. World Cup squad is comprised of a mix of Olympic veterans and promising new skaters.
"The team this year is entirely new and we've built each other up as people, as athletes, and as competitors," said Reutter. "The results are indicative of the hard work we've done this year and I'm looking forward to a very successful season."
Jayner agrees. "I am proud and excited with how our team started the season at this first World Cup," he said.
Last Saturday's results included a gold for Ruetter in the 1,000 meters, gold for Gehring in the first 1,500 A final, gold for Jeff Simon and silver for Cho in the first 1,500 A final, and a bronze for Jayner in the 1,000. The Korean Air ISU Short Track World Cup competition continues this weekend in Quebec City, Canada.
The Long Track team finished a three-day competition in Milwaukee to determine which athletes would represent the U.S. on the World Cup Tour for the fall.
The men were: 2010 Olympian Tucker Fredricks (Janesville, Wisc.), 500 meters; two-time Olympic gold medalist Shani Davis (Chicago), 500, 1,000, 1,500 and 5,000; Mike Blumel (Woodbury, Minn.), 500; 2010 Olympic silver medalist Trevor Marsicano (Ballston Spa, N.Y.), 1,000, 1,500 and 5,000; 2010 Olympic silver medalist Jonathan Kuck (Champaign, Ill.), 1,000, 1,500 and 5,000; and 2010 Olympian Ryan Bedford (Midland, Mich.), 1,500.
The women named to the squad were: 2010 Olympian Heather Richardson (High Point, N.C.), 500, 1,000 and 1,500; 2010 Olympian Rebekah Bradford (Apple Valley, Minn.) 500, 1,000 and 1,500; 2010 Olympian Lauren Cholewinski (York, S.C.), 500 and 1,000; 2010 Olympian Jilleanne Rookard (Woodhaven, MI) 1,000, 1,500 and 3,000.
The 2010 Fall Long Track World Cup Team will travel to Heerenveen, Netherlands, for World Cup No. 1 on Nov. 12-14.