Canadian Team Selection Trials Updates
Final
points of Canadian Trials
ALL
FOOTAGE is ONLINE. 8/29/2009
8/26/2009
The
fifth and final spot for the Canadian Olympic Short Track Team has been
decided! Looks like its Francois Louis
Tremblay (not surprised) and Valerie Maltais
(definitely surprised). It was a close
one between both
Men
Charles
Hamelin
Olivier
Jean
Guillaume
Bastille
Francois
Hamelin
Francois
Louis Tremblay
Women
Kalyna Roberge
Jessica
Gregg
Marianne
St. Gelais
Tania
Vicent
Valerie
Maltais
So
the team is officially finalized baring any catastrophic events (a lot can
happen from now until the Games given the randomness of short track). I’m not sure what the process is for a
replacement in
This
is the team selected to represent
Men’s 500m (3) Final A
8/19/2009
I
know it’s been a few days since I have updated my blog. I’ve been super busy editing the last of
trials. I’m going to upload it soon.
On
a side note, MANY OF the skaters are asking me about Liam McFarlene’s
500m (3) Final A. REST ASSURED, the
second I get to
In
terms of results, once again the team has been already determined. The last day of racing was pretty much
irrelevant due to the fact that no skater skating Day 5 would be able to catch
up with points for the 1000m (3).
Canadian Olympic Short Track Team
Men
Charles
Hamelin (pre-qualified)
Olivier
Jean (skating the 500m + 1000m)
Guillaume
Bastille (skating the 1500m)
Francois
Hamelin (not sure what distance he’s skating)
Women
Kalyna Roberge (skating the
1000m + 1500m)
Jessica
Gregg (skating the 500m)
Marianne
St. Gelais (skating the 500m)
Tania
Vicent (not sure what she’s skating as well)
The
5th spot is now being determined by the High Performance Short Track
Committee. I think Francois Louis
Tremblay is set for the 5th spot in the men’s side since he was in
the 500m Final at World Championships.
The biggest question right now is the 5th women’s spot. Anne Maltais
finished 5th overall for trials.
Amanda Overland did pretty well too during trials. It’s still up in the air. We will know August 26th.
8/16/2009
Day
3 races are available!
Roberge won the 1500m (3) Final A, followed by
With
all the points so far, the Olympic team has been pretty much determined based
on racing.
For the women, it’s:
Kalyna Roberge (1000m +
1500m)
Jessica
Gregg (500m)
Tania
Vicent (highest combined points for the 500m + 1000m)
For
the men, it’s
Charles
Hamelin (Pre-qualified for placing top three at World Championships back in
March)
Olivier
Jean (500m + 1000m)
Guillaume
Bastille (1500m)
Francois
Hamelin (highest combined points for the 500m + 1000m)
The
last spot will be decided upon by the High Performance Short Track
Committee. One man and one woman will be
handpicked for the last spot.
On
a side note, I was informed that Liam McFarlene
needed to only place top THREE in the 500m (3) for his spot on the team for the
500m. The main problem here is that he
didn’t know this information prior to the START of his 500m (3) Final A. This just goes to show you the importance of
keeping up-to-date records of total points so that you won’t have to kill
yourself like Liam did and get DQ’d for kicking
out.
500m (3)
Jessica
Gregg makes the Olympic team with her win in the 500m (3)!
In
the men’s final, Liam McFarlene took off and lead the
entire race until he literally KICKED out at the finish line. He was so nervous trying to get first. All he had to do was stay on his feet at the
exit of the last corner. Francois
Hamelin impeded against Cory Rasmussen and fell in the process! McFarlene was
visually disappointed knowing that his Olympic chances are in vain. If he had won that 500m (3), he would have
been on the team automatically. With
these unfortunate events, based on overall points, this means that Olivier Jean
is selected to race the 500m at the Olympics.
McFarlene got second with trailing behind a
mere 42 points! Liam still has a chance
to win the 1500m (3) since he’s top two along with Bastille.
In
other news, Tania Vicent injured herself during
practice today and was taken away by the ambulance. I hope she gets well soon. She did not race the 500m (3) today. I don’t know if she’s going to make it back
for the third and last 1500m (3). If she
doesn’t come back, the 1500m selection is up for grabs. The top three so far are Valerie Maltais, Kalyna Roberge and Amanda Overland. It’s still too close to call for the 1500m
(3). Racing again starts at 5pm!
8/16/2009
Updated
points sheet with individual totals
Roberge and Jean have secured their spots on the
Canadian Short Track Olympic Team. They will
be sent to skate the 1000m distance at the 2010 Olympics! Remember, individual skaters sent will need
to qualify for their own distances at World Cups 3 + 4 to skate at the
Olympics. Their celebration is short
lived because they are both trying for other distances.
In
the 1500m (2), it was both Jean and Roberge as they
continue their winning streak. In the
men’s it was Jean, Bastille, Beaulieu, Monette,
McFarlane, and Gilday. In the women’s, it was Roberge,
Valerie Maltais, St. Gelais,
I’m
also updated the total results to reflect the total points from each
distance. Since this meet is not all
about the overall total points, I’ve decided to modify my existing excel file
to include total points for each individual distance. The yellow box indicates the overall winner
of a specific distance. Two other black
border boxes indicate the top two skaters so far.
500m
overall so far:
Women
– Gregg, Roberge
Men
– Jean, McFarlene
1000m
overall:
Women
– Roberge (overall winner), Vicent
Men
– Jean (overall winner), Hamelin
1500m
overall:
Women
– Valerie Maltais, Roberge
Men
– Jean, Bastille
Racing
resumes tomorrow at 2:20pm.
8/15/2009 7:55pm PST
8/15/2009 5:16pm PST
It’s
Roberge and Jean for the win in the 1000m (2)! Roberge essentially
did the very same exact thing on Wednesday by leading the final the entire way
with no skater trying to challenge her. Drolet came in second with
In
the men’s 1000m, all four skaters gunned it from the start speeding up so
quickly trying to grab the first position.
They all kept making passes on each other back and fourth. Bastille tried to challenge Hamelin multiple
times. At the end, it looks like Hamelin
secured the win in the A final, but to my amazement, it was JEAN that passed
the line first! Jean passed the line at
1:24.483 while Hamelin passed at 1:24.486!
8/13/2009 2:16pm PST
Points updated with Day
2 results.
Women’s 500m (2) Qualifications
The
men’s 1000m final was crazy! Bastille
lead the race at the start. Jean tried
to take the front at the first lap but Bastille closed the door on him. Monette went fourth
to first at 7.5 laps. Jean and Hamelin picked
up speed at the start of lap 7. Hamelin
tried to move on the inside but Bastille took the inside as well causing him to
stand up. Hamelin’s right skate then was
pushed by Monette’s left skate causing him to become
unbalanced. Hamelin recovered to get
back into the race with the crowd in awe!
At 3.5 laps Jean started to pick up his speed and made an inside pass on
Bastille pushing him to the outside as they entered the corner. I guess the judges didn’t call Jean on
that. With Bastille pushed out, Hamelin
capitalized on the opportunity and took the inside for second. As they rounded the last corner, Bastille
tried to go on the inside to get Hamelin at the line. He then lost his balance and his body
literally spun 360 from the force of the turn allowing Monette
to snatch third while he slid across the line for fourth.
In
the women’s 1000m final, we had five skaters on the line with the advancement
of
In
the final, the race was essentially Roberge, Vicent, Gregg,
To
end this entry, let me just mention the men’s 500m (2) Semi 3. Gelinas-Beaulieu
fell taking out Derraugh, causing him to be injured
and to withdraw from the race. Hope he
fells better very soon. BUT, at the same
time, when those two slammed against the pads, an inattentive bystander flew SO
far back from the impact, he dropped his coffee. It was INSANE. That just goes to show you to PAY attention
especially when you’re right NEXT to the pads during the exit of the
corner. Footage will be online soon to
show this!
8/12/2009
And
it’s McFarlene with the win in the 500m (2)! Jean and Hamelin fell after the first corner
after the Apex so the race was NOT restarted.
McFarlene clutched his fists in the air as he
easily cruised through the finish line with Monette
right after him!
Jessica
Gregg won the women’s 500m (2) by gunning for the first corner after the start
and held it there the entire way followed by St. Gelais,
Vicent and Roberge! Roberge had a tough
time trying to make a pass to try to make top three. The second 500m finals resulted in a complete
twist with the winning skaters!
8/10/2009
First
day racing is over. I had some zoom issues
with my tripod during the women’s 1500m Final A, but that issue seems to be
gone now.
In
the women’s 1500m, Tania Vicent patiently waited to
execute her strategy and it paid off with her coming into first. Roberge was DQ in
that race by impeding against Valerie Maltais. I
didn’t see any charging earlier in the race.
You can see the race for yourself when it’s up.
In
the men’s side of the 1500m, Michael Gilday made a
kick ass inside pass on the pack at 4.5 laps.
He went from fourth to FIRST and held it there. After reviewing the video, Francois Hamelin
tried to make an inside pass on the last lap against Gilday
but couldn’t complete it. As Hamelin
tried to push with his left and from the looks of skate, it looks like he
almost booted but immediately landed on his right so he wouldn’t fall. He didn’t get the maximum push needed to
complete his pass. This significantly
slowed him down at the last straight away, which allowed Bastille to pass him
on the outside. Olivier Jean also got
Francois literally at the line. One slip
up and Francois went from second to fourth in a matter of seconds.
In
the 500m Women’s Final A, it was more like a cat and mouse game. It was a five skater race with St. Gelais advanced from the semis. Hewitt knocked a block with her right skate
and couldn’t hold her blade on the ice, then fell pushing out St. Gelais.
At
the start of the 500m final, Gregg was the first into the corner with Roberge fast behind her.
After the second lap, Roberge made an inside
pass on Gregg, ONLY to be passed back immediately on the inside by Gregg. Roberge then made a
SECOND inside pass on Gregg. Tania Vicent tried to make an inside pass on Gregg from third to
second at the start of the last lap, but didn’t have enough speed to complete
the pass so she held off and settled for third.
Getting third is better than getting a disqualification. Rounding out fourth and fifth were St. Gelais and Valerie Maltais.
In
the men’s 500m final, McFarlene took the first corner
after the gun. After 2.5 laps, Olivier
Jean made an inside pass on McFarlene, at which
point, Francois Hamelin made an inside pass on McFarlene! McFarlene went from
first to third within ONE lap and was beaten at the line by Remi
Beaulieu in the end. Olivier Jean took first
with his clutched fists while Francois Hamelin second.
After
day one, top five from the point standings are:
Women:
Vicent, Roberge,
Men:
Jean, Francois Hamelin, Gilday, Bastille, Remi Beaulieu
REMEMBER,
they are only picking top THREE for men, and top FOUR for women. It’s still anybody’s race.
RESULTS
ARE IN PDF
FORMAT.
8/8/2009
The
stage is set!
I
went to check out the Canadian women strut their stuff today on the ice at the
Pacific Coliseum. The ice looks super
smooth and clean from where I was sitting.
The women were flying on the ice getting ready to vie for spots on the
Canadian Olympic Short Track team. I
think this would be a good time for me to explain aspects of the trials
selection:
-For
the entire Canadian short track team, a total of FIVE men and FIVE women will
be selected.
-Of
the five spots, skaters are only competing for FOUR spots of the five
spots. The last spot will be selected by
the High Performance Short Track Committee (Reference)
-Charles
Hamelin has already prequalified for the Olympic team since he finished top
three at World Championships back in March in
-This
means that there are only THREE spots for the men. None of the women have prequalified so it’s
still FOUR spots.
-Since
-A
maximum of THREE skaters per gender per country will be allowed for each
distance (500m, 1000m, 1500m) at the Olympics
-Quotas
for each country will be determined at World Cup 3 (
-The
skaters selected at the Canadian trials will be responsible for qualifying for
their distances at World Cups 3 + 4
-This
essentially means that even if you’re selected to represent Canada, this
doesn’t mean you will be guaranteed to skate at the Olympics (maybe the relay)
Another
big shocker is that Francois-Louis Tremblay will not be skating Canadian
Trials. He sustained an ankle injury
last spring and has not fully recovered from it. He has requested a bye onto the team and the
High Performance Short Track Committee will ultimately decide his fate. (Reference)
Stay
tuned! Again, I will be tweeting from my
twitter account (www.twitter.com/shorttrackHD)
live at the event. Race begins tomorrow!
Useful
links:
Tony