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| Born | August 27, 1979 (age 45) Sunset Beach, California, U.S. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Sport | Short track speed skating | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Rusty Smith (born August 27, 1979) is a short track speed skater from the United States who won bronze in the 500m at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City and another bronze in the 5000m relay at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin.
In December 2001, Shani Davis traveled to Utah to race for a spot on the 2002 Winter Olympics short track team. Teammates Smith and Apolo Ohno already had slots on the six-man team due to points earned from earlier races, and Ron Biondo was a lock for the third spot. In order for Davis to qualify, he would have to actually win the final race. As both Ohno and Smith were also participating, Davis would have to beat them both. Since Ohno had been dominant in the meet to this point, winning every race he entered with ease, a win by Davis seemed to be a long shot. However, the 1,000m race would end with Ohno coming in third, Smith second and Davis at the top of the podium.
However, the victory was short-lived, as rumors began to swirl that Ohno and Smith, both good friends of Davis', intentionally threw the race so that Davis would win. [1] After returning to Colorado Springs, O'Hare would file a formal complaint. For three days, Ohno, Smith and Davis stood before an arbitration panel as three of their fellow skaters testified that they heard Ohno telling Smith that he was going to let Davis win. [2]
Ohno would later confess that he subconsciously held back for fear of suddenly crashing into Davis or Smith, a common occurrence in the sport, pointing out that he did not need to win the race because he already had a spot on the team. Question persisted that if Ohno had really held back, why did he keep passing Ron Biondo? Some speculated that Ohno was holding off Biondo from challenging Smith, as Smith also needed to finish ahead of Biondo in order to secure a spot in the 1000m for Salt Lake. Even this scenario would have been a violation of the rules of team skating. Both claims went unproven in the arbitration case, and all three were absolved of guilt.
On February 13, 2002 Sports Illustrated writer Brian Cazeneuve published an article stating that, after reviewing the race, "To this day, there is no concrete proof that any skaters violated the spirit of competition." [3] Cazeneuve would, however, also publish the comments of Outside Life Network commentator Todd Harris and 1998 Winter Olympian speed skater Eric Flaim, which were made during the broadcast of the race; both men agreed that Ohno and Smith had not skated at 100%.
Apolo Anton Ohno is an American retired short track speed skating competitor and an eight-time medalist in the Winter Olympics. Ohno is the most decorated American at the Winter Olympics and was inducted into the International Sports Hall of Fame in 2017 and the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame in 2019.
KC Boutiette is an American speed skater from Tacoma, Washington, and a four-time Olympian. He was first of the wave of inline speed skaters, and made the transition from inline to ice, in order to have a shot at going to the Olympics.
Shani Earl Davis is an American former speed skater.
The United States sent 204 athletes to the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy. Chris Witty, a four-time Olympian, who competed in both Summer and Winter games, and won a gold medal in speed skating at the 2002 Games, served as the flag bearer at the opening ceremonies. Speed skater Joey Cheek, who won gold in the 500 m and silver in the 1000 m, was the flag bearer at the closing ceremonies. One athlete, Sarah Konrad, became the first American woman to compete in two different disciplines at the same Winter Olympics – biathlon and cross-country skiing.
Charles Hamelin is a Canadian retired short track speed skater. In a competitive career that spanned nearly twenty years on the international circuit, Hamelin participated in five Winter Olympic Games and won six Olympic medals, including a national-best four gold medals. Competing in all distances, he won thirty-eight medals at the World Championships, including fourteen gold medals, and also led Canada to five world relay titles. Hamelin was also the 2014 Overall World Cup season winner and the 2018 Overall World Champion, giving him all the achievements available in the sport.
Lee Ho-suk is a South Korean short track speedskater. He won a gold medal as a part of 5000 m short-track relay team and four silver medals in 2006 Winter Olympics held in Turin, Italy. He is the overall world champion for 2009 and 2010.
Short-track speed skating has been a contest at the Winter Olympics since the 1992 Winter Games in Albertville, France. Prior to that, it was a demonstration sport at the 1988 games. The results from the 1988 demonstration competition are not included in the official Olympic statistics. The sport has been dominated by teams from East Asia and North America, namely South Korea, China, Canada and the United States. Those four countries have won 147 of 195 medals awarded since 1992. South Korea leads the medal tally, with 53 medals including 26 golds since 1992. The majority of medals that South Korea and China have won at the Winter Olympics come from short-track speed skating.
Li Jiajun is a former Chinese short track speed skater who has won 5 Olympic medals – two silver and three bronze. He was the overall world champion in 1999 and 2001.
Mongolia sent a delegation to compete at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, United States from 8–24 February 2002. This was Mongolia's tenth time participating in a Winter Olympic Games. The delegation consisted of four athletes, two cross-country skiers; Davaagiin Enkhee and Jargalyn Erdenetülkhüür, as well as two short-track speed skating competitors; Battulgyn Oktyabri and Ganbatyn Jargalanchuluun. Erdenetülkhüür placed 63rd in the men's 15 kilometre classical cross-country race; he was the only one of the four to compete in an event final.
Haralds Silovs is a Latvian long track and former short track speed skater, who became the 2008 and 2011 European champion in short track. He has participated in three Winter Olympics. In 2018, he finished fourth at speed skating 1500 metres event.
John Robert "J. R." Celski is a retired American short track speed skater, three-time Olympian, and three-time medalist in the Winter Olympics. Celski has held a total of five combined Short Track World and Junior World Records throughout his career including the 500m and 5000m relay World Records as well as the 500m, 1000m and 3000m relay Junior World Records. Celski was a part of the team that broke and currently holds the World Record in the 5000m relay established in Shanghai, China on November 12, 2017.
The United States participated in the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The U.S. team had a historic Winter Games, winning an unprecedented 37 medals. Team USA's medal haul, which included nine gold, marked the first time since the 1932 Lake Placid Games that the U.S. earned more medals than any other participant.
The men's 1500 metres in short track speed skating at the 2010 Winter Olympics took place on February 13 at the Pacific Coliseum. Heats took place at 5:00 PM PST, while the semifinals took place at 6:18 PM PST and the final event one hour later at 7:18 PM PST.
Simon Cho is a retired Korean American short track speed skater who was a member of the US Olympic Team for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. He is currently the head coach at Potomac Speed Skating Club. Since Cho has become head coach, Potomac Speed Skating Club has been one of the top ranked clubs in the United States with evidence pointing from their Short Track National Club Championship 2016–2017 in March 2017 and a back to back team championship performance at the Buffalo Short Track Championships on October 21–22, 2017.
Sung Si-Bak is a South Korean short track speed skater. At the 2007 Winter Universiade, he won all five short track speed skating events. Sung has won more than 20 World Cup races and earned two World Cup titles, in addition to skating on the winning World Championship 5000 m relay teams in 2007 and 2008. He qualified for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Sung was in medal contention leading into the final lap of the 1500 m event there, when a crash between him and a teammate led to his finishing in 5th place.
James Hewish is an Australian short track speed skating referee who works for ISU. He participated in the 2002 Salt Lake City and 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics as the chief referee in the short track speed skating events.
Min Ryoung is a retired South Korean short track speed skater. He is the 2000 Overall World Champion.
Kim Dong-Sung is a South Korean former short track speed skater. He won a gold medal in 1000m race and silver medal in 5000m relay at the 1998 Winter Olympics. He has been a two-time Overall World Champion in 1997 and in 2002 and two-time Overall World Cup Champion.
The men's 500 metres in short track speed skating at the 2002 Winter Olympics took place on 23 February at the Salt Lake Ice Center.
The men's 1500 metres in short track speed skating at the 2002 Winter Olympics took place on 20 February at the Salt Lake Ice Center.
