Canadian Charles Hamelin is the one to watch heading in. He currently holds the World Cup record for this distance. His competition, however, is stiff.
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Olympic Contenders: Men's 1000-metre short track
- February 16, 2010 10:37 PM |
- By John Shmuel
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Here is a look at the competition in Wednesday's men's short track 1,000-metre race, which gets under way Wednesday at 8:25 p.m. ET. The finals take place on Saturday at 11:05 p.m. ET.
The Contenders
Canadian Charles Hamelin is the one to watch heading in. He currently holds the World Cup record for this distance. His competition, however, is stiff.
Jung-Su Lee of Korea already has a gold in the 1500-metre race, where Hamelin failed to qualify for the final on Feb. 13. The other threat comes from American Apolo Anton Ohno, one of the United States' most celebrated winter athletes. He holds a silver for the 1000-metre race in Salt Lake City in 2002, and a bronze from Turin four years ago.
The Top Five (Current World Cup rankings)
1. Jung-Su Lee, Korea, 2600 pts
2. Apolo Anton Ohno, United States, 1722 pts
3. Charles Hamelin, Canada 1650 pts
4. Francois Hamelin, Canada, 1562 pts
5. Si-Bak Sung, Korea 1512 pts
Canadian Medal Hopes
Charles Hamelin is heavily favoured to land on the podium -- if not win gold outright. His younger brother Francois, ranked fourth in the World Cup rankings, could make a medal show, but his chances are comparatively slim.
The Dark Horses
Two other Koreans, Si-Bak Sung and Ho-Suk Lee, could be podium wildcards -- they are ranked fifth and sixth respectively in the World Cup rankings.
About the Author
- Bruce Arthur Bruce Arthur is the National Post's national sports columnist. A Vancouver native, he has been with the Post since 2001, and a columnist since 2005. He is covering his second Olympics, after the 2008 Games in Beijing. He expects these Games to be slightly less propagandistic, and for China to win slightly fewer medals.
- Joe O'Connor Joe O'Connor is a roving sports feature writer with an open-ended beat. He joined the National Post in 2002, and has spent the past seven years bouncing from sport to sport, offering fresh perspectives and delivering unique stories wherever he goes. Whether it has been getting Don Cherry to open up about his love life; George Chuvalo to talk about heartbreaking loss; or racing down the side of a mountain with former Crazy Canuck, Dave Irwin, the veteran Postie chases a story wherever it leads. Before joining the newspaper he was a two-time silver medalist at the National Magazine Awards. Vancouver will be his first Olympics.
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