Apolo Ohno (Seattle, WA) was the overall champion of the World Cup with 86 points after winning gold in the 1500 meters on Friday, bronze in the 500 meters on Saturday and another gold and bronze on Sunday in the 3000 meters and 5000-meters relay, respectively.

In the 3000 meters, Ohno took the victory in 5:44.636. Fellow U.S. speedskater Hyo-Jung Kim (Fullerton, CA) competed in the ladies’ 3000 meters race, finishing sixth in 5:53.234.

Kim had a superb race in the ladies’ 1000 meters, finishing fourth in the finals in 1:30.808, setting a new American record.

Allison Baver (Sinking Springs, PA) finished ninth overall in the ladies’ 1000 meters making it through to the quarterfinals and finishing third in her heat in 1:32.401. Kristen Biondo (Broadview Heights, OH) finished 28th overall with a 1:34.743 finish time.

In the men’s 1000 meters, Ohno finished fifth in the finals in 1:26.735. J.P. Kepka (St. Louis, MO) advanced to the quarterfinals where he was eventually disqualified. Overall, he finished 17th in the 1000 meters. Teammate Rusty Smith (Long Beach, CA) was disqualified in his heat. He finished 39th in the distance.

In the men’s relay, the U.S. team consisting of Ohno, Smith, Kepka and Travis Jayner (Midland, MI) took home the bronze medal with a finish time of 6:52.979.

U.S. Speedskating Short Track Managing Director, Derrick Campbell felt that the weekend’s event was a good indicator to assess the team’s training strategy earmarked for the 2006 Winter Olympic Games.

"Since this weekend is the Olympic Qualifier, every team is prepared to perform to earn as many positions at the Games as possible,” Campbell said. "It is a good performance marker going into Torino to measure where we are at and what we still need to work on.”

Olympic Games 500, 1000, 1500 meters Qualifications:

The U.S. men’s and ladies’ teams can qualify up to two spots each for the 2006 Winter Olympic Games in each the 500, 1000 and 1500 meters if they have two athletes in the top 32 in each individual distance after both World Cup 3 (Bormio, Italy: November 11-13) and World Cup 4 (The Hague, Netherlands: Nov. 18-20).

The U.S. men’s and ladies’ teams can qualify up to three spots each for the 2006 Winter Olympic Games in each the 500, 1000 and 1500 meters if they have three athletes in the top eight after both World Cups’ points are added.

The maximum number of spots the U.S. can have in each the 500, 1000 and 1500 meters is three for men and three for ladies.

Olympic Games Relay Qualifications:

The maximum number of countries allowed to skate in the relay event at the Olympic Games is eight and the host country (Italy) is automatically given one of those spots.

The U.S. men’s and ladies’ teams can qualify a relay team respectively if they are in the top eight after the points from both World Cups 3 and 4 are added together.

After World Cup 3:

500 meters U.S. ladies: 8th place finish, 15th place finish, 17th place finish
500 meters U.S. men: 3rd place finish, 37th place finish, 62nd place finish
1000 meters U.S. ladies: 4th place finish, 9th place finish, 28th place finish
1000 meters U.S. men: 5th place finish, 17th place finish, 39th place finish
1500 meters U.S. ladies: 8th place finish, 13th place finish, 29th place finish
1500 meters U.S. men: 1st place finish, 16th place finish, 42nd place finish
3000 meters relay: U.S. ladies 6th place finish
5000 meters relay: U.S. men 3rd place finish

RESULTS:
1000 meters ladies:
1. S. Jin KOR 1:30.037; 2. Y. Yang CHN 1:30.658; 3. T. Borodulina RUS 1:30.727; 4. H. Kim USA 1:30.808
Americans: 9. A. Baver; 28. K. Biondo

3000 meters ladies:
1. S. Jin KOR 5:41.077; 2. M. Wang CHN 5:47.514; 3. C. Byun KOR 5:50.853; 4. E. Radanova BUL 5:52.062; 5. T. Borodulina RUS 5:52.846; 6. H. Kim USA 5:53.234; 7. Y. Yang CHN 6:10.890

3000 meters relay:
1. KOR 4:12.483; 2. CAN 4:14.154; 3. ITA 4:21.211; 4. CHN 4:34.733

USA: 6th

Overall:
1. S. Jin KOR 102; 2. M. Wang CHN 60; 3. Y. Yang CHN 36; 4. E. Radanova BUL 29; 5. C. Byun KOR 21; 6. T. Borodulina RUS 18

Americans: 7. H. Kim; 8. A. Baver;

1000 meters men:
1. H. Lee KOR 1:25.899; 2. S. Song KOR 1:26.386; 3. Y. Li CHN 1:26.450; 4. M. Turcotte CAN 1:26.603; 5. A. Ohno USA 1:26.735

Americans: 17.J. Kepka; 39. R. Smith

3000 meters men:
1. A. Ohno USA 5:44.636; 2. H. Lee KOR 5:44.704; 3. H. Ahn KOR 5:44.712; 4. Y. Li CHN 5:46.139; 5. M. Turcotte CAN 5:56.787

5000 meters relay:
1. KOR 6:50.460; 2. CHN 6:51.766; 3. USA 6:52.979; 4. CAN 7:03.114

Overall:
1. A.Ohno USA 86; 2. H. Lee KOR 76; 3. H. Ahn KOR 52; 4. Y. Li CHN 21; 5. M. Turcotte CAN 21

Americans: 16. R. Smith; 27. J. Kepka