2 USA SKATERS HOLD OFFICIAL "New World Records"

######################## NEW WORLD RECORDS ###################


I do not know how I ended up with the sheet of paper that I have... and it is missing "Official Signatures", but this was not the only document that was handed out to the Delegates (Team Managers) and the Press that did not have official signatures. It is in Spanish and it says that it is " Nuevos Records Mundiales Absolutos". Basically translated to English, "New Records Championships Absolute". So with that, here is what I have:


300-m Nicoletta Falcone Italia 26.071 Track

15,000m Alexandra Vivas Colombia 24:29.10 Track

200-m Bernice Moreno Colombia 18.13 Road

500-m Brittany Bowe USA 42.14 Road

10,000-m Hyo Sook Woo Korea 14:58.00 Road

10,000-m Jan Guyader France 13:40.12 Road

20,000-m Briggyte Mendez Colombia 32:53.54 Road

20,000-m Joey Mantia USA 28:50.48 Road


Once again, congratulations to all of the New World Record Holders!!!!!!!

Joey and Britt.... you guys kicked butt!!!!!!!!

LIGHTS GO OUT-HOLD UP THE PRESS

I was going to write about the great 5ooo-meter relay events that took place on the road last night, BUT..... when we got home it was raining pretty hard.

We ate dinner and I was just ready to sit down with the computer and the lights went out. At first it was fun with all of us sitting in the dark. We had to use my computer to "light" our way around the house to find candles and a lighter. Once that was done we sat at the kitchen table and talked about skating (of course). We had to get the Spanish-English dictionary out MANY times and when there was a misunderstanding we would laugh until our cheeks hurt and had to wipe the tears away.

But then it got old being in the dark. I had things to do and I was really tired of the lights being out. My Colombian family told me that this happens often and they just "go to bed"!

Go to bed??? Who had time??? But that's basically what we had to do. Which of course meant NO internet and no story.

It is raining right now... according to the radio the Jr Ladies are skating. The raido announcer is going nuts... but they always do... I hear Colombia, Colombia, Korea.... but tese are not placements... only leaders.... wow, I wish you could hear him. You would think we are at an Indy 500 race...... I have been told that he is just announcing the countries and numbers. But they have been racing for 50 minutes. But let's remember that it is raining where they are at. That should add at least 20-40 minutes to the typical marathon race.

I promise to put up "my account" of last nights relays... but it won't be until later.

THEY HAVE JUST ANNOUNCED... that Mariah Richardson and Alex Harris have passed the press area.... I do not know what that means... but that's great that Mariah is up with Alex. She has skated many marathons and done so in the rain. We will be back later, Linda and Ananda

5000M ROAD RELAY FINALS - UPDATED 8/26

**********************************UPDATE*************************************

--------------------------------------THE RELAY FINAL RESULTS-----------------------------------

I have typed these results twice over the last two days. But due to the horrendous rain showers that we have experienced here in Cali, Colombia, it has caused power outages and internet connection failures both times. Frustrated, I slammed my computer closed until this morning. Here are the results from the relay final events:

JUNIOR LADIES 5K RELAY FINAL:

1st - Colombia
2nd - Italy
3rd - Korea
4th - Argentina
5th - Germany
6th - China Taipei

JUNIOR MENS 5K RELAY FINAL:

1st - Italy
2nd - Colombia
3rd - Korea
4th - USA - Kevin Quandt, Keith Carroll, Colin Thomas
5th - Belgium
6th - China Taipei



I wonder if these skaters ever thought..."In less than 30 minutes, we will all be World Champions in the Senior 5K Road Relay" ???

From left to right: Sara Sayasane, Heather Richardson, Brittany Bowe, Michael Cheek, Joey Mantia and Joshua Wood - TEAM USA

SENIOR LADIES 5K RELAY FINAL:

1st - USA - Brittany Bowe, Heather Richardson, Sara Sayasane
2nd - Colombia
3rd - Argentina
4th - Korea
5th - China Taipei
6th - Chile

SENIOR MENS 5K RELAY FINAL:

1st USA - Michael Cheek, Joey Mantia, Joshua Wood
2nd - Italy
3rd - France
4th - New Zealand
5th - Colombia
6th - China Taipei

CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL OF THE SKATERS FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD!!!




There were only 4 races this morning. I missed the Jr Ladies skate and the Jr Men but I do have their results, along with the Senior Men... the Senior Ladies communication sheet was not available.


JUNIOR LADIES RELAY TEAMS WHO MADE TONIGHTS FINAL:

COLOMBIA
ARGENTINA
KOREA
CHINA TAIPEI
GERMANY
ITALY

JUNIOR MEN RELAY TEAMS WHO MADE TONIGHTS FINAL:

CHINA TAIPEI
USA
KOREA
COLOMBIA
ITALY
BELGIUM

SENIOR LADIES RELAY TEAMS WHO MADE TONIGHTS FINAL:

COLOMBIA
USA - Brittany Bowe, Sara Sayasane, Heather Richardson
CHINA TAIPEI
(I will have the other 3 teams later tonight)


SENIOR MEN RELAY TEAMS WHO MADE TONIGHTS FINAL:

COLOMBIA
ITALY
CHINA TAIPEI
USA- Joey Mantia, Michael Cheek, Josh Wood
FRANCE
NEW ZEALAND

I will not be taking my computer to the track. I would like to video all of the finals and take pictures during the warm-ups. I will post final results on my blog, however I know that Inline Planet will have all of the information you will be looking for on their front page tonight.

All of these races will be close tonight and their will be some upsets..... the family that I am staying with and myself have written down our picks PRIOR to us going to the Championships tonight. It will be interesting to see how close any of us are. There is ice cream riding on the outcome!! :) Hope you all will be able to watch on the live feed or will join us on our front page.

Don't forget, tomorrow morning the Marathon will start at 8am with the Junior Ladies. I understand that the course that we are driving to (outside the city a bit... not sure how far They say 20 minutes, but in Colombian time that might be 45!! I do love the slower pace!), is mostly flat, with no hills and simulates the last two years of marathons with it being a loop that is equal to about 12 laps. This is only through "Spanglish" so do not hold me to this!

Linda
p.s. more photos have been downloaded to my FLICKR site but have not yet been named.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/58909696@N00/sets/

500 METER DOUBLE GOLD FOR USA

Wow.. 500 meters is fast.

Junior Man, Chad Horne fell within the first 100 meters but could not get back up. Medics are checking him out right now.

Brittany Bowe comes from 4th place to out hawk 2 Colombians at the line. It was the cleanest race that I have ever seen out of these ladies and we had to wait to get the info!! GOLD FOR BRITTANY BOW

And our final GOLD is for MR-ON-FIRE, SO-HOT YOU-CAN'T-TOUCH-THIS... MANTIA (LOL)

What a race... pretty much led it from the beginning and stood up 15 feet from the line AGAIN, with his hands in the air.... more to come! Linda

MANTIA STRIKES AGAIN -GOLD -20K ELIM

What can I say... a perfectly orchestrated "team race". Joey Mantia and Josh Wood skated great together. I don't know who's race it was to win, but Mantia led the majority of the 50 laps at 400 meters each. It appeared to me that Josh, who sat in behind Joey, was there blocking for Joey and keeping the other teams behind them. I know Joey... and he LOVES to lead.

When Joey stepped out to move up, Josh was on his backside like glue... at one point I thought that Joey might be skating for Josh... until Wood took a couple of "bumps and grinds" and then gave them "back", resulting in 2 warnings throughout the 44 laps that Josh remained. The first warning came on lap 48. Wood who was the last elimination, led Joey out hard with 3 to go and it panicked the rest of the pack causing them to jump on. Wood got passed right on the line, which is exactly where it counts!

Joey was incredible the last two laps. Again it was obvious to me that Joey was rested (I still don't know how he does it when he leads so much) and he was pumped. He KNEW that it was his. He stood up at least 25-30 feet before the finish line with his hands in the air. What a super race to watch and video tape!! It was wonderful to see Joey include Josh in his victory lap.

The 500's are coming up soon. Stay tuned.

1st USA Joey Mantia - 28 minutes 50.48 seconds
2nd COL Nelson Garzon
3rd ITA Fabio Francolini

SR LADIES 20K-ANOTHER TOUGH BREAK

Heather Richardson and Emily Scott started the race off together. It was evident that Emily was going to have to do all of the work. Heather was in there once or twice and did the very best that she could for Emily, but it wouldn't be enough. Heather was eliminated with 40 laps to go.

As tiny as Emily is, she is a fighter and that was what she was doing most of the next 6 laps that she survived. Her elimination would happen right at the line as she was in the middle and 4 girls went around here on either side. She appeared safe and I think she was as surprised as we were.

This race has been brutal... especially for the girls... several girls have fallen and been carried off or had to be taken to the medical tent. It is not because the girls can't skate, it's not because the road course is bad... it's because there is a lot of contact going on. And as much as the referee's have tried to stop it (and they have... they DQ someone and then that skater is reinstated per the higher ups)... there is not much you can do.

Nicole Begg from New Zealand fell right after the elimination line and got back up and skated her heart out. But it just wasn't quite long enough time for her to catch the pack.

With 13 laps to go Korea has just been eliminated but it appeared that Chile grabbed her first. There are 2 Colombians left, 2 girls from Chile... scratch that... 1 girl from Chile, Australia, France, 2 girls from Argentina and a couple of others with 11 to go. Another warning goes to Chile... they have had more warnings than I can count throughout the whole competition!!! Results will follow later..

20k ELIM TOUGH RACE FOR JUNIORS

In the Junior division we had the following skaters compete:

JUNIOR LADIES

Briana Kramer
Melanie Brandley

In this race it was just a tough race.... not that they all aren't. But it was fast and it appears that you really need a partner to fend off all of the other teams. Melanie skated a good race for her first individual race. She was there a couple of times with Bri but the pace proved too brutal. By lap 21 to go (out of a 50 lap race) she was off the back and eventually eliminated. Bri did a great job but I thought she skated a little too much on the outside which obviously is further around. Again.... it is so much easier to SIT here and write what I see versus being out there in it and doing it. Eventually Bri was eliminated.

With 9 laps to go it was a surprise that Korea was eliminated. The next lap the girl from Chile fell with France across the line and Chile fell into an embankment all twisted up. I seriously was shocked that she was able to get up and skate off.

With 3 laps to go France had caught back up to the pack (that is 400-meters that she skated by herself) and within inches was eliminated. The crowd was great and really clapped for her.

The last lap would leave Italy, Germany and Korea finishing top 3.

1st - #30 Germany
2nd - #45 Italy
3rd - #58 Korea
4th #51
5th #18 - Colombia

The numbers that were turned in versus what they called as official... do not match up. I apologize if any of the information is incorrect.

JUNIOR MEN

It would be Kimani Griffin's first race. And veteran Hank Galbraith. I was pleasantly surprised at Kimani's staying power. Hank and Kmani actually were a very strong team and had they skated very well together. There was a point where Chile grabbed Hank, Hank retaliated and then Chile pushed back all at the line. Hank was not eliminated, but disqualified. It's very unfortunate... that they did not see that Chile caused it and he reacted.

It was now all up to Kimani... .... but something else would happen... Hank being a "teammate" gave Kimani a "relay tag". I do not know if Kimai knew it or not but he shot to the front and they immediately DQ'd him. He actually looked good - good enough to medal at that point. But who knows....

Great job to these skaters...

500-METER FINAL WILL SK8 2NITE

We just got back from a quick lunch. There is a 4 hour break in between. I must admit that this has been the best World Championships for being on time and making sure the athletes get plenty of rest after competition at night, coming in later in the morning and of course during lunch in between,

This is the first day that I have taken any time in between to eat.... but yesterday...... my wonderful Colombian Radio friends were teaching me how to SALSA. Can you imagine, six stories up out on the balcony I am dancing with all of these guys and some of the women who clean up and their children and even a grandmother... it took all of them to help me out. It was great fun. The Colombians know how to have a good time but are hard workers too. When it's business time and they are announcing, we better not be laughing....but we do. They have had to stop once or twice!

Too bad the photos that they took of us dancing did not come out!

I know... on with tonight's information:

JUNIOR LADIES 500-M FINAL:

#14 China Taipei
#62 Korea
#3 Argentina
#49 Italia


JUNIOR MEN 500-M FINAL:

#30 Colombia
#31 Colombia
#6 Australia
#85 USA - Chad Horne


SENIOR WOMEN 500-M FINAL

#26 Colombia
#27 Colombia
#48 Italia
#67 USA - Brittany Bowe

SENIOR MEN 500-M FINAL

#120 USA - Joey Mantia
#86 Italy
#13 Belgium
#88 Italy


We will also be watching the 20K Elim tonight. I do not know who will be representing USA so hang tight! Linda

ALL 500-M HEAT & 1/4-SEMI RESULTS

All the heats have run. Here are the following results:

JR LADIES

Both USA skaters make their 1/4's. They have drawn the same quarter. This means that 4 skaters will be competing for 2 spots to go to the semi.

Mariah Richardson
Alex Harris

The girls JUST raced their quarter. It was Korea in first fron the gun, keeping it slow. Mariah sat behind her and Alex did all she could to catch up from the start. As you might know, Alex is more well known for her distance skating. But she would have to fight her teammate for the second spot. At one point Alex went around both Mariah and the Korean. Of course Korea counter attacked and moved back to the front and the Korean led through the last corner and to the line. But that left the two girls from USA wanting the lone spot left. The only time that Mariah APPEARED to put effort into the race was when she hawked Alex at the line. But it would not be enough for Mariah to move on.

Alexandra Harris will move onto the semi-final for the 500 meter later this afternoon.

JUNIOR MEN

Colin Thomas
Chad Horne

These two boys easily made their quarter-final.

Chad will go first in his quarter. He has a tough quarter. He is 4th off of the line and fighting just to catch them... he is now with the pack, he passes one... then the skater in the 2 spot.... and as they round the corner he drops back just a bit and now it's 3 of them fighting for 2 spots. He drops his head and cranks it. he passes the two in 1 and 2 for the win and moves onto the SEMI.

Colin Thomas has Italy, Colombia and Korea in his 1/4. He gets off of the line and they are all together. Colombia pops out in front followed by Korea and Italy. Colin is now in fourth and he knows this will not be easy. He battles all the way through the last turn, he moves up into 3rd and as they approach the line he knows... it will come down to the hawk.... it will be between Italy and him... long legs, long hawk.... We have to wait.............. so do you................. eventually it is announced, Colombia, Italy and USA. He just misses making the semi! Great job.


SENIOR LADIES

Brittany Bowe
Sara Sayasane

Both ladies would easily make their quarter-final.

Sara is on the line with Korea, Colombia and Argentina. The gun goes off. She is in 4th place and the Korean is leading with Colombia #2 and Argentina. Down the backside Sara kicks it in... and goes around Argentina, and starts to move up on Colombia... but she steps out and they all pass Korea. Colombia is easily leading and Argentina moves into the #2 spot, Sara's head drops and she drives her knees so hard. As they approach the line she looks up and throws her hawk as does the girl from Argentina. We have to wait... It is Sara who gets to move on!!!!

Britt has Chile, Nicole Begg from New Zealand and Argentina in her 1/4. From the gun it is Britt and Chile with Nicole chasing and Argentina even further back. Eventually Nicole Begg, another known distance skater will close the gap some... but not enough to catch Britt and Chile who will move onto the semi.

SENIOR MEN

Joey Mantia
Josh Wood

Mantia was first off of the line and France went with him. By the first major turn, Mantia and France were almost 75 meters ahead and continued that lead plus some for an easy move onto the quarter-final.

For Josh Wood, his first race of this Championships, he is another skater known as a distance skater, it would not be so easy. He would have the two Italian sprinters and a Korean sprinter.

If we go back a few days ago, you will remember that Sebatian Cano (the #2 sprinter for Team USA) broke his boot in half and I assume he was unable to rectify his equipment problem. That put Jonathan into the 200 and Josh Wood into the 500.

Josh got off of the line in second and remained there for about 150 meters. It was then that the second Italian would go by and now it was 2 Italians leading, Josh and then the Korean. I knew that would not last long. The Korean moved up quickly and passed Josh and one of the Italians into the 2 spot. The 4 of them battled until the line where it would be Italy, Korea, Italy and Josh.

Joey Mantia just qualified for his 500-meter semi.

Great job skaters. Linda

SR MEN 200-M FINAL

Again skaters are skating a bit slower tonight than the did today.... wait........the Germany skater posts a 16.69, Mathias Scwierrz. But here comes COLOMBIA.......................... Fuentes does not do it... he clocks a 16.89


They have had trouble with the timing equipment AGAIN. Holland skated a great time (16.70) and they now say he must run again... WHY??? There was a time... it started when he did and finished when he did....

Joey is up... he appears to have had a little trouble on the backside.... an extra side step, and it looks like an extra hop... great power down the last straight... but it wasn't fast enough for a placement, he's out of the medal count... 16.71. We are having to wait 15 minutes so that Ronald from Holland can re-skate.... They want to give him 15 minutes rest so he is rolling around all by himself. Even the Colombians who have favored their home team (naturally) have clapped for him as he rolls by. Stay tuned for official results...

OMG....................... Duggento posted a time of 16.37..... BUT so did Wouter from Belgium (he also skates indoor with Milpitas, CA and is the other half of Sara Sayasane)..................... we are waiting for the official news......,.....,................. IT'S OFFICIAL WOUTER DID IT.... HE BEAT DUGGENTO...

This just in... upon learning that he did not win the 200-meter road race time trial, Gregory Duggento threw his time trial helmet to the ground and the cover for the eyes to help make it aerodynamic, broke off or came off. Sources tell me he was angry and yelling.

I can only imagine what it's like to be the fastest man on inlines for several years in a row and now to loose both of those titles this year. But he needs to remember it came down to 7/1000's of a second. That is incredible and he has much to give back to this sport. I know that many skaters look up to him. I am sure it was just in the heat of the moment.... still congratulations to Wouter Hebbrecht of Belgium and to all of the skaters.


1. BEL - Wouter Hebbrecht- 16.366
2. ITA - Gregory Duggento - 16.373
3. VEN- Juan Jose Jardines - 16.59

4-Tie - GER - Mathia Scwierrz - 16.69 (they did not break this tie that I am aware of)
4-Tie - SPAIN- Fernando Mejia - 16.69
6- USA - Joey Mantia - 16.71
7-HOLLAND - Ronald Mulder - ran this twice- 1st time 16.70 2nd time 16.73
8-ITA - Simone Bellia - 16.84
9-COL-Camilo Fuentes-16.89
10-CHILE-Ricardo Berdugo-17.05
11-KOR-Jun-Hee Lee-17.20
12-SPAIN-Joseba Fernandez-17.26


To all of the skaters who skated this evening and who have skated in this championship. I cannot say it enough times, you are all so close.... when they have to break out the "1000th meter-reader" you know that you are only dealing with the BEST IN THE WORLD!

What an incredible thing to know, feel and be a part of. If you went back to your hotel with a medal tonight, congratulations. If you didn't go back to your hotel with a medal .... congratulations.

There are so many skaters around the world that would have loved to have had the exact same opportunity as you have had and would do anything to be in your skates. Please realize just how awesome you all are!!!

You put on an extraordinary show tonight for the thousands of people who were there and it was an honor to be a part of that crowd and watch you skate!!!!!!!!!!!! Thank you... and let's "bring it on" again tomorrow.

SR LADIES 200-M FINAL EVENT & Jr Men

Sara is up and she was sitting in 8th place. Very nice start for Sara... she is strong around the backside, but skates a tad bit slower than her original time. She posts a 19.07 in front of the Chilian of 19.12 and the Chinese Taipei girl of 19.10.

Brittany Bowe just skated and posted a time of 18.48 which puts her in first with 5 more skaters to go. She is one of only a couple of skaters that has posted a faster time than this AM. The skater from Chile posts the same time as Brittany... 18.48......... We still have a skater from Italy and 2 from Colombia.............. Brittany has posted a faster time... than Estefania from Chile.

Brittany has a MEDAL for sure... her comes Colombia, Jennifer Caicedo.... ...... Jennifer does it just a lttle bit faster... 18.27. It has been so close tonight. Berenice Moreno has won this before, can she take it from her teammate?????????????????? No, but skates good enough for the 2nd! Her time is 18.44

************************ OFFICIAL RESULTS *******************************

JUNIOR MEN

1st AUS - Daniel Greig - 17.05
2nd COL - Pedro Causil - 17.06
3rd KOR - Bong Ju Choi - 17.3752

4th FRA - Gwendal Lepivert - 17.3799
5th ITA - Leonardo Bonato - 17.38
6th COL - Carlos Canon - 17.39
7th USA - Chad Horne - 17.48
8th ITA - Stefano Spreafico - 17.56
9th VEN - Gerardo Galvis - 17.58
10th VEN - Enrique Florez - 17.62
11th ARG - Nicolas Saladino - 17.75
12th CT - Mao-Chieh Kao - 17.80

SENIOR LADIES

1st COL - Jennifer Caicedo - 18.27
2nd COL - Berenice Moreno - 18.44
3rd USA - Brittany Bowe - 18.4763

4th CHILE - Estefania Nunez - 18.4785
5th ITA - Erika Zanetti - 18.55
6th ITA 18.67
7th KOR 18.93

I will come back Senior Men are up...

JR MEN 200-M FINAL EVENT

For some reason Chad is skating second when the official paperwork says he was to skate 4th. But he left that line with everything he had and posted a better time than this morning. He is currently in first after three skaters and 9 to go with a time of: 17.48.

Venezuela almost went down trying to hawk.... but now here comes COLOMBIA....... If nothing else, these skaters should win by all of the positive energy in this venue!!! Carlos has left the line he is going fast......... ohhhh no.... another uproar..... the clock did not start.... he must skate again. Colombia is ticked!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! f course they don't realize that they happened to Joey Mantia last year and other skaters over the year.

Here come Venezuela ... long, powerful legs and strokes... but NOT powerful enough to beat Chad's time! Venezuela drops into 3rd with a 17.62.

Alright... Italy... all of their sprinters are trained by Duggento... they look like him, they skate like him... can they be a World Champion like he was???? Or will it be a medal but not a gold? Stefano drops in behind Chad.... Chad is still in first. Stefano posted a time of 17.56

His teammate fro Italy is running right now... WOW... Leonard Bonato is now in first with a time of 17.38, and Chad is in 2nd with 17.48. There are still 4 skaters that could change all of this. Two are from Colombia, one from Korea and your leader from Australia.

Korea ties with Italy.... it's broken and Horne moves to fourth. Australia skates... and beats the Colombian by 1/100th of a second. The Colombian is HOT.... he appears to be saying that someone cheated (I think... I have asked one of my Colombian Radio Friends and they say Yes he appears to be angry because he got second).... BUT don't forget we have one more Colombian to come.... the timer did not start for him and they say that they will run him "later". What... TOMORROW??????????????????????? Come on... he should have to run at the end of the event just like as if he were an American or New Zealander or the Chinese Taipei. We are still not sure what is up!!

I will give you official results as soon as they are posted. I am SO lost. Nothing new. L

200-M FINALS JUNIOR LADIES

Most of the girls have skated slower than their original time today. I am surprised as it is their second time skating their race on this track. You can figure out what you did wrong and make that correction and typically when the weather cools down the road and track are faster.

Mariah just broke into the 18's but we have more to come... right now she is in first with 6 more girls to go.

China Taipei just passed her by 4/100ths of a second...... Next up is Ho-Chen Yang from CT also... her time was faster than this mornings but not fast enough to move in front of Mariah. She is still in 2nd. Next up is Italy who scored a 18.95. She finishes .... on man..... 1/100th of a second faster than Richardson who now is in third with 3 girls to go.

So-Yeong Shin from Korea is flying... she too finishes under Mariah and into 1st.... 18.81. Mariah is now out of the medal count but should e proud of her great improvement!!!

COLOMBIA............... Rocks the house!!!!!!!!!!! She brings it down!!!!!!!!!!!!!! With one girl to go, will her 18.74 hold first????????????????????????? Here we go with Victoria Rodriguez frm Argentina.... Oh no... they tied they are both 18.74.... the crowd is chanting COLOMBIA.. COLOMBIA.... COLOMBIA....COLOMBIA... It's almost deafening!!!!!!!!!! No answer yet........

*************************** OFFICIAL***********************************

1st - COL - Sara Vallejo - 18.7354
2nd - ARG - Victoria Rodriguez - 18.7383
3rd - KOR - So-Yeong Shin -18.81
4th-CT - I-Pei Lu - 18.87
5th - ITA - Erika Santoro - 18.95
6th - USA - Mariah Richardson - 18.91
7th - CT - Ho-Chen Yang - 19.04
8th - COL - Cadavid, Vanessa- 19.04
9th-

The guys are starting... I will finish all 12 later... sorry... L

SR MEN 10K POINTS

At the start line with the Senior Men

Again I apologize for all of the spelling errors and promise to go back later tonight and correct my errors. It is maddening to me when there are misspelled words!!!

It is official for the Senior Ladies:

1st # 59 - Korea - 17 points
2nd # 58 - Korea -14 points
3rd # 22 - China Taipei - 7 points

There are a ship load of guys. This one is going to be tough on me... and on them.

They are off FASTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT. Shoot............

Chile and CT get the first of the 24 laps of points, one skater goes down and rolls... skaters scatter - say that fast 10 times.

Chile gets 2 points and #46 one point. Canada is getting lapped. Chile slows down and takes the 2 points and here comes France and Italy haulin. France gets the 2nd.

Now Italy and France are out... Italy 1st and France 2nd.. they are a good 50 meters ahead of the pack and it doesn't look like they are loosing ground. Mantia passes into the 3rd now and is looking for Cheek. Mantia is now brining the pack up to France and Italy. But it is France and Italy grabbing point and now Italy and France. Joey is in 3rd and CHEEK in 4th.

France is going out... WOW Joey comes from nowhere to grab the points... Joey has Colombia pass him one and two.

Check out Spain on the cement in yellow top and blue bottoms. Joey is in 7th and moving up.

.. but they slow down and now the whole pack is together... the New Zealand guys are one and two... they pass Colombia, it is NZ and Spain... Cheek did a great job of leading Joey out a couple of times but is off the pack.... Joey's dad is yelling Jooooeeeeyyy. COL 1st and Joey 2nd. Now Joey is leading.. Wow now the black and orange uniform (that I do not recognize) is gone he takes first and Joey 2nd. #117 first and Joey 2nd... there are 11 laps left..... JOEY IS HAMMERING..... he is gonna catch that guy... it looks like Joey pulls off... I don't know what happened.... I missed it..... Holland and Korea go one and 2................ this race is KILLER>>>>>>>>>>> the crowd is shaking the bleachers and screaming, with 9 laps to go Korea and Holland across the line.... there goes both Colombians. Korea 1, Venezuela 2 and Venezuela 3rd........ Argentina is 75 meters out front ... I don't believe it... maybe I am seeing things... Joey is back in the race and gets 2nd... how could I miss it... it must have been Cheek that rolled off... France and Argentina 1 and 2... NOW FRANCE is out front .................. way out front France and NZ 1 and 2... four laps to go ... Colombia goes around France and New Zealand is out front... COL is trying to catch but not quite... NZ 1st and COL second... I wish you were HERE>>>COLOMBIA IS GOING WILD..... NZ still leads but can he hold it..... Colombia hammers with 2 to go at the line, Australia is in third.. Colombia is SO close...

NZ and COL 1 and 2. I can see Colombia is GOING TO WIN THIS RACE AT THE END.... WAIT OH NO........................ several skaters have found their second wind... they are moving... Colombia drops back... the crowd goes silent... real silent... they come across the line:

1. Italy
2. Korea
3. CT
4. COL
5 AUS
6. Spain......

This is NOT how they finish officially, just how they cross the line... It looks like France is taking his victory lap...

My words can not explain the adrenaline that "I" have... never mind the crowd or the athletes. Bring Lance Armstrong on... let's see if he can keep up with these boys!! ;)

*****************************OK OFFICIAL RESULTS********************************

1st - #53 - France- Guyader Yann (I could not understand the number of points)
2nd - 95 - NZ - Scott Alridge - 9 pts
3rd - #40 - COL - Garzon Nelson - 8 pts

SR LADIES 10K POINTS-Updated

Emily Scott on the front line of the Senior Ladies 10K points

Well I was wrong.... like always..... I cannot think, walk and chew gum at the same time! Heck I can't walk and chew gum... Wait....... Ok official results for Jr Men:

1st Belgium
2nd Italy
3rd Holland (forgot about him)

Great job to all that skated. It was an exciting and incredible race.

Senior Ladies going into the first turn.

Ok ladies here we go...

Looks like Emily Scott on the front line and they are lining Heather Richardson up on line 3.

Out front right away Germany and USA-Emily.... there are about 6-8 girls out front, here comes the pack and they catch them....Holland and Nicole Begg-New Zealand go one and two to grab the first of the points.

Holland and Begg are still leading but they have the whole pack behind them... Begg takes the 1st and Holland the 2nd.... Scott is in 4th . These ladies are cookin through the S turn and through the backside. 4 skaters stand out... but Italy takes the 1st and the other skater I do not recognize the uniform. Colombia and Korea race for the line and "chicken hawk", both with their hands on their back. Crazy.... COL , Chile and Korea hawk but Colombia gets it. Wow the stands are going crazy. COL again gets the 1st with Chile cheating and moving over on France for the second.

Emily goes out on her own..... She gets first and Begg gets 2nd with 17 laps to go at the line. The pack has caught them... geez why do all that work to get so far out and then just coast??? I know I know... It's easier to watch!! Chile grabs 1st and Begg 2nd with 15 laps to go at the line.

Korea powers around the outside on the backside of the last corner and pulls one, two with CT in tow. Now COL jumps on the pack...The four girls are together and about 10 meters ahead... Italy and Korea grab the points. Now the pack is back together... Argentina, Korea and COL come to the line.. COL gives it up and lets the girls have it... COL, Italy and Begg... Italy steps over in front of Begg and cuts her off... for the points..... only 11 to go at the line... these girls are skating faster than I can type... Korea 1 and 2... they are about to lap France.... Heather rolls off.

Italy, France and Chile... France does not see Chile and Italy and Chile get the points. Colombia is back up front and it feels like an earthquake. Korea and Colombia go one and two. CT and Korea go 1-2-3, but 3rd doesn't count..... wow................ they are major out front.

There are almost 3 sperarate packs now... Korea, Korea and CT....... They have to be 75 meters out front now.... Korea, CT and Korea when they come around there will be 5 to go... It is stretching out now, even more....CT, Korea and Korea. The rest of the group is playing "you lead.. no you lead...no you lead" Do they not realize that there are 3 girls out front?

Four laps to go, one Korean goes out by herself and the second Korean starts to chase. CT tries to go but just can't. The second Korean passes the first Korean (does it really matter??) They are over 100 meters away from the rest of the pack, they are now switching leads.....drop backs.... Korea, Korea and CT is about 10 meters back... OOOOHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH major crash with the group... one girl from Holland slides down the Handicap ramp... Korea will go 1,2, Begg is in third through the last turn but NO... it's now Argentina who goes 3rd, Colombia 4th and Begg 5th at the line.

WOWWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOW... Well we all know Korea, Korea and probably CT.. but I am not sure. Hang in there... man my fingers HURT

JR MEN 10K POINTS-Updated

KRAMER WINS BRONZE MEDAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We have Hank Galbraith and Kevin Quandt skating this race. I have already missed the first 3 laps while trying to download pictures.... Holland and Italy just hawk for one and two... Italy got points the last lap.

Italy is way out front and Germany come from the outside to go one and two....
With 21 laps to go these guys are battling... Portugal and Germany hawk... it looks even and they have not announced who did what. Korea and USA-Quandt take 1 and 2...

Korea takes the point from COL and Venezuela, but USA is attacking on the back side. USA hawks Italy for 1 and 2... Holland and Germany hawk for 1 and 2... man....... if you can't hawk you need to take your skates off and GO HOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

With 15 laps to go Belgium and Italy go out. Here comes Gemany.....Germany goes out by himself but is quickly reeled in. Belgium again followed Germany. France has left the pack as he skates through the S turn... he is out by about 10-15 meters and he is looking back as he coasts across the line... he takes the 1 spot followed by Italy and Italy has to hawk for the points. Italy skates past France and then coasts. Dropping in behind France and lets him lead again through the S turn.. I wonder if France is content to lead Italy out and take the 1 point? Here comes Korea bringing up the pack and reels them back in.

Belgium and Portugal grab the points... wow I have no idea who is in what place overall. There are at least 25 guys in the main pack. Holland and then Belgium go one and two.... USA is near the back of the 25...Holland again ...ooops my bad... Hank hawks for 2nd but I don't know if he got it yet... no he does not. Holland is out front and gone. He looks strong. Both the Venezuelans go together and PASS Holland like he is standing stilll....................................................... Venezuelans cross one and two. Geez.... Hank gets a warning and gets bumped back one.... Powerhouse Italy passes on the outside at the back followed by Germany.....



They are still ALLLLLLL together!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Normally a couple of the guys will go out and drop the pack. They grab the points and skaters drop like flies. But not this time.

France takes 1st and I think Italy takes 2nd place points.. Quandt of the USA has rolled off of the track... Korea and Portugal one and 2. The other Korean goes with Chile in tow. 2 laps to go at the line Korea and Chile one and 2.

Belgium is out with 10 meter lead... Belgium takes the points and CT takes the second.... they lap Hank... Belgium, Korea, CT and Spain I believe. Hank gets disqualified... I don't know what he did... but they are calling his number several times. Do they not know that the race is OVER??!!

If I were to guess... Belgium 1st, Italy 2nd and depending on which Korean it was or German... Hang in there.. Linda

JR WOMEN 10K POINTS RACE-Updated

Start of the Junior Ladies race. That is Briana Kramer on the front line.

Briana Kramer is on the front line and it appears as if Stephanie Sutter is on the outside of the 3rd line.

In this points race there will be points every lap. The girls are on their way back now. When the gun went off, Australia fell. I am not sure if it is because Australia fell that they brought the girls back or because they did not tell them when the points would be.

On lap one it is no surprise that Colombia and Korea hawk for 1st and 2nd. Kramer is in 4th and close enough now to make things happen for her. She has placed in this race before so this is "her" type of race. With two laps down Italy and Italy both get points with France being out hawked at the line for those points.

Lap 3 of 25.. it's Kramer and Colombia hawk for points and I can't tell who gets them.... there goes Chile followed by Italy. It's official Kramer got the 2 points and Colombia 1 point. There is a mass of girls coming through the last turn Colombia easily gets the points and Chile the 1 point.

France and Germany attack through the last turn and here comes Colombia.... I think Colombia and Germany get the points. With 18 to go both Koreans take 1 and 2. Kramer is back in about 8th. She's not "struggling" but she is not attacking either.

Chile and Venezuela take 1 and 2 on lap 17. All the girls are still together. WOW......Kramer shoots from the rear to take 2 points and Venezuela one point. WOW

Chile steps in front Colombia first and cuts her off and then steps in front of Italy to take the 2 point followed by Italy... CHILE needs to be warned!!!!!!!!! The Koreans pop out front again on the next lap to take 1 and 2 with 14 laps out of 25 remaining.

Now China has moved to the front with Kramer in a close 4th... oh man... both Germans come from the outside and attack... they go by Colombia and France for the points. Again they take 1 and 2. The Colombians and the Koreans don't like that... these girls are hammering and the sun is out and so bright. Colombia takes 1st with Korea 2nd but France was fighting for 3rd.

Italy and now France get 1st and second with Colombia hawking more behind her (stretching the back foot out) than in front. That hurts her and she receives no points. Kramer is GOING... she gets 2 points and France 1 point with 8 laps to go.

Colombia and Argentina takes 1 point. Both Koreans are out and battling each other, they go one and two. Both Colombians are chasing and the pack has caught back up. Here comes COL and Italy.. they have a good lead they need to keep it, but they don't here comes France with Korea and only 5 laps remaining. Korea and France go 1 and2... Kramer looks dead, but she's done that before... this is her race... she could medal if she rallies back.... It's Korea and Kramer... go Bri go............................. Korea and Bri are trying to go, but COL is bringing the pack up... 3 to go.............................. Kramer gets the points along with China, that's good because China does not have many points.

Oh no.... one Korean goes down. Italy and France go one and 2 with 2 laps to go..... Kramer is way off of the back... something must have happened... COL and France take the points. Last lap and Colombia is going crazy Korea is GONE.................... Germany passed Colombia like she was standing still, 2nd Korea, 3rd Spain and 4th Korea across the line.

Wow.. what a race.... I will have to wait for official points.............................. sorry for any spelling errors way ahead of time. All the girls were incredible.

Linda

SR MEN 200M RESULTS ELIM-UPDATED

Here are the results for the Senior Men:

SENIOR MEN

1st Wouter Hebbrecht - BEL -16.455
2nd Gregory Duggento - ITA - 16.463
3rd Joey Mantia - USA - 16.51
4th Juan Jose - VEN - 16.61
5th Ronald Mulder - HOLLAND-16.67
6th Fernando Mejia - SPAIN - 16.85
7th Camilo Fuentes - COL - 16.945
8th Simone Bella - ITA - 16.951
9th Ricardo Verdugo - CHILE - 16.97
10th Matthias Schwierz - GER - 16.98
11th Joseba Fernandez - SPAIN - 17.07
12th Jun Hee Lee - KOR - 17.15



28th Jonathan Garcia - USA - 17.50

Very, very close. It will all come down to what the athlete has done during their 5 hour break and how they mentally prepare for their race. We will bring you the results as close to "live" as possible tonight. Skating starts back at 5pm go take a nap...for me!

Linda

p.s. About Jonathan's time... some might look at his placement and think "Wow... 28th place, that's not very good".... again.... He was ONLY one second off the first guy... count that out to yourself right now... "one-thousand-one" That's it... the difference between 1st and 28th. That shows the level of the competition..... And Jonathan did step in for our sprinter Sebastian Cano who had equipment failure. So that is nothing to sneeze at and I am proud of Jonathan for stepping out there and giving 100%!!

SR LADIES RESULTS & SR MEN Information FOR 200M ON ROAD

The Senior ladies skated the 200-meter time trial this morning and I would like to give you some news that would send chills down your spine... but it just didn't happen out on the track this morning for the ladies or the men.

However... both of our Senior Ladies made it to the 200-meter time trial final that will be skated approximately 5 hours from now. That give the girls plenty of time to go back to the hotel, eat lunch and take a nap or rest if necessary.

Here are the results that I have:

SENIOR LADIES:

1st-COL-Bernice Moreno - 18.15
2nd-COL-Jennifer Caidedo-18.29
3rd-ITA-Erika Zanetti-18.42
4th-CHILE-Estefan Nunez-18.44
5th-ITA-Nicoletta Falcone-18.47
6th-USA-Brittany Bowe-18.59
7th-GER-Jana Gegner-18.87
8th-CT-Yi-Chin Pan-18.93
9th-USA-Sara Sayasane-19.00
10th-CHILE-Caro Santibanexz-19.03
11th-KOR-Ju Hee Im-19.088
12th-KOR-Jin Ju Lim-19.090


As of this moment the men's results are not available. A tough break for Sebastian Cano. During his fall in the 3000-meter Senior Mens 3 person relay 2 nights ago, when Sebastian fell he broke his boot in half. He was able to get a new boot (a different manufacture) but was unable to make it work and told the Senior Coach, Chris Tidwell that he felt that it would be in Team USA's best interest to give the race to someone else. That as much as he wanted to skate, it just didn't feel right. Coach Chris Tidwell chose Jonathan Garcia to skate the 200-meter race along with Joey Mantia.

When I spoke to Sebastian he said he was very disappointed that he was unable to make the boots work for him. That every time he tried to "turn" the skate felt like it just wanted to go straight. It sounds as if Sebastian might be out for the rest of the competition unless he can get something to work for him. He was skating the best that I have seen him skate at a World Championship since he moved up to the Senior Men's division.

On the other side of the fence. When speaking to Joey Mantia, I reminded him of Chad Hedrick's record of 6 medals at any one World Championship and asked him if he had planned on going after that record. He responded that there are 5 races left in which he could medal and that anything is possible. Then he flashed me that gorgeous, bright white smile that he is famous for.

Another record he might be going for is the Marathon. As far as I know... no one person has ever had a 'THREE-PEAT" in the Marathon. Yes, maybe countries have won 3 times in a row, but I can't remember any athlete that has done so. Mantia is on fire, feels good, and seems relaxed so if anyone could do it, it would be Mantia.

I wish all the athletes from every country, the very best when racing tonight. I hope to see some fast racing with lots of action and wish everyone a safe night.

As soon as the men's results are available, I will post them.

Linda

ROAD EVENTS START-200-meter results Jr Ladies & Mens

This is what the skaters are missing.... people, enthusiasm and the coolness of the evening!

What a dull, gray, hot, muggy day to step out on the road course and you (the athlete) need to feel 110% to sprint the 200-meters. Running faster than you have ever run before. Trying to grab any one of the top 12 spots so that you may come back tonight when you are awake, it is much cooler, the stands are packed and the adrenaline is flowing through everyone, including you, the skater.

I don't even want to be here. And I love being at World's. But we kind of lost "our flow" by taking a day off. I tried to write articles yesterday but the internet server was down at the complex we are staying at. However I was able to go through some of the photos crop, name, reduce in size, download and then upload to FLICKR about 75 new photos. You can view them here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/woodsk8/sets/72157601469274778/

The results for Junior Ladies are as follows:

1-ARG-18.76-Victoria
2-COL-18.81-Sara
3-KOR-18.93-SoYeng
4-ITA-18.95-Erica
5-TPE-19.07
6-TPE-19.12
7-USA - Mariah Richardson-19.20
8-VEN-19.23-Corro
9-ARG-19.27-Onella
10-CHILE-19.34-Patricia
11-COL-19.34-Vanessa
12-ITA-19.35

19th - Alex Harris USA - 19.79


If I do not have first names it was that they were not provided. If the times are the same, it is because the thousandths was not available at the time of "print".
Junior Men's results:

(No names or numbers were available at this time)

1-AUS-17.20
2-COL-17.23
3-ITA-17.35
4-ITA-17.40
5-VEN-17.43
6-COL-17.49
7-VEN-17.54
8-CT-17.63
9-USA - Chad Horne - 17.68
10-FRA-17.72
11-SOUTH AFRICA!!! - 17.74
12-ARG-17.77


15th - USA - Keith Carroll - 17.83

As you can see the times are extremely close. Our skaters have done an outstanding job and I am very proud of them!!!

Congratulations skaters.... see you in the finals tonight.

Linda

JESSICA SMITH FLYS BACK TO USA....

Jessica Smith during this year's World Championship in Colombia before her fall

Last night Jessica Smith was competing in the 1000-meter final when she took a very bad fall. It appeared that Jessica fell on her stomach very hard and did not get right back up. As we all know, when you hit your stomach, you usually knock the wind out of you. Well this was no ordinary fall.

Jessica broke her collarbone and needs to have surgery. It was the consensus of Team USA's official trainer, Jessica and her parents that she fly back to the US to see her own doctor and schedule the necessary surgery for a rod and pins.

Jess & Brittany warm-up together

Speaking from experience (Josh has broken one collarbone once and the other one twice), they usually do not do much for you but put you in a sling, tell you to keep it immobile and rest. So this tells me that Jess, who is already as tough as nails, really did a number on her collarbone.

Jessica will be leaving Colombia tomorrow morning with Executive Director, Richard Hawkins who is accompanying her to Texas. USA Roller Sports has purchased Jessica's mother an airline ticket from Michigan to Texas and back to escort Jessica from Texas to Michigan to have the necessary surgery. This assures that Jessica will be with "family" all the way home.

When I spoke to Richard Hawkins he stated that he would have done that for any athlete that had to return from a World Competition due to injury.

Kudos to Richard Hawkins and USA Roller Sports for taking care of Jessica and bringing her mom in.

Jess... take care of yourself. Please let us know how you are doing. Our thoughts and prayers are with you.

Linda

IT'S OFFICIAL-GOLD FOR SR LADIES USA

It was just announced... the team of

Brittany Bowe
Heather Richardson
Sara Sayasane

Are the Gold Medal winners and what a race it was. Sara moved like a Giselle through the pack on every tag, while Heather held her ground and Brittany pounded the pavement hard and fast.

I must say the ONE THING that I am still amazed by... is Sara's tag that she gave to Heather!! Heather has to be twice as tall as Sara. And Brittany... you weren't afraid to SHOVE Sara into that mess.... with such power. INCREDIBLE. Congratulations girls!!!

Linda
p.s. watch for updates and stories tomorrow along with photos. Thanks...

SENIOR LADIES BOOED ON TRACK

A super hawk by Sara Sayasane with a great hawk from the Colombian leaves us not knowing what is going on. They have not announced the results from the Sr Ladies.

The crowd booed Sara on the last turn when she threw a breathtaking inside pass on Colombia... to us it looked CLEAN.... to the crowd of Colombians... it did not. We will just have to wait and see what the officials think.

The crowd booed Team USA. The Jumbo Screen shows that Sara won the hawk against Colombia which has caused major commotion!!!!!!! I don't care what anyone says, those three girls earned every bit of whatever they get!!!! We are hoping for gold. I will get back to you on this. And Colombia.... you too earned whatever may come your way. Both of these teams skated their hearts out.

The Senior Men Relay... We were in front a couple of times only to drop back to 4th, 5th or 6th. With one and a half laps remaining... Sebastian was in 3rd, falls while battling for 2nd with Italy. China Taipei was GONE.

The final finish is:

1st China Taipei
2nd Italy
3rd Korea

For some reason after the end of the race one of the French men throws his helmet outside the track and was obviously angry.............. USA finishes 6th, France is 4th and Colombia took 5th.

I will write more later... lots more to tell!!!!!!!!!!

JR MEN 3K RELAY RESULTS

These are your teams:


Chile
Colombia
Italy
USA (Chad, Colin & Keith)
Venezuela
China Taipei


How can it get any tougher????? ....

Once again it comes down to a long hawk for the guys race.

Colombia falls with just a lap and a half to go. Chile and Chinese Taipei were both DQ'd.... the final finish is:

YES>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

1st Italy
2nd USA by a HAIR... GO Colin Thomas (heused those long legs) and Team!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
3rd Venezuela (great hawk by their finisher..so close)

What a hawk by USA and Venezuela....WOW

JR LADIES RELAY RESULTS

We just received word of who will be competing in the Jr Ladies Relay Final:


China Taipei
Korea
Italy
USA (Briana, Mariah, Alex)
Germany
Colombia

Wow... what a race this will be... it won't be easy for any of the divisions!!! Hang tight...

incredible race ladies! Some super tage that kept us up front for most of the race. But with the way the the young skaters have been performing from Korea, Colombia anything could happen.

Korea got DQ'd early on in the race (it's only 15 laps) and I am not sure why, but it appeared that they were fighting with one of the teams (I only have a 2 inch window and everyone is in black!! Or so it appears)... For SURE it finished:

CHINA TAIPEI
COLOMBIA
3rd WILL BE BETWEEN

USA AND ITALY. Briana Kramer and Italy hawked at the line and even they don't know.!!!!


USA TAKES THE THIRD!!!

UPSET IN 500-METERS-UPDATE

First of all my program says that the 3k relay will be run first. Well one of the "big" teams must have had skaters in those relays as well as the 500's. So THEY decided to change the order.

JUNIOR MEN

1ST - COLOMBIA
2ND - COLOMBIA
3RD -ITALY
4TH-USA -CHAD HORNE

** I will come back to the UPSET here!!!!!!

JUNIOR LADIES

1ST- KOREA
2ND ITALY
3RD- KOREA
4TH ITALY

SENIOR WOMEN

1ST - COLOMBIA
2ND -KOREA
3RD-ITALY
DQ - COLOMBIA

** I WILL COME BACK TO THIS ONE AS WELL

SENIOR MEN

1ST USA JOEY MANTIA
2nd FRANCE
Italy fell in the last turn and we are not sure if he crossed the finish line. If he went into the center, he will not medal. If he crossed the finish line he will medal.

----------------------UPDATE-------------------
Luca Presti from Italy will be awarded the 3rd officially.

DQ - CHINA TAIPEI

L

RELAY LINE UP

We are still having great difficulty receiving communications from the CIC. I know other websites have more information than us. Remember we are with a small 13" wireless laptop, small digital 35mm camera (small to them, just right for me!) and a small Sony HDTV Video Camera. We do not have an army of people holding cords for us as we run down the track following the athletes (not that I could do that anyway!!), but we are powerful. We are reaching people in Cambodia and Portugal. As well as Iran and Korea. The Colombians have thanked us for the pictures that we have posted and our website as well. It's just too bad we don't get more information!!

So with that said, the only final event that I know with all 6 teams for the relay is the Senior Men. If you can watch it on the live feed that is available! It will exciting, controversial (it has to be with the teams that will be out there) and it may even get a tad bit physical near the end. I have seen the relays where teams fall early and don't give up, only to have the lea teams fall and then they are chasing the original teams that fell and the crowd will go crazy for sure!! Here is the line up for SENIOR MEN 3K RELAY:

USA
KOREA
FRANCE
ITALY
CHINA TAIPEI
COLOMBIA


Get your popcorn now, we are starting in moments with the Jr Ladies Relay. Linda

500 meters & Relay Results

Josh Wood prepares to skate the Senior Men's Relay Heat

Today's weather is blah. No sun and yet it is bright and I could really use my sunglasses. I have put them on, only for it to be too dark. But one thing does not change.. it is still too hot!

The 500-meter heats, quarters and semi's ran earlier this morning, and we will finish this session off with the 3000-meter, 3-person relay heats.

Right now the Sr Ladies from Team USA is leading the heat but they have Colombia, France, China Taipei and Germany right there. Al of these teams have won a World Championship in the relay at one time or another. They came across the line 3rd.

Safely into the final tonight, representing Team USA will be the Jr Ladies Team of Alex Harris, Mariah Richardson and Briana Kramer winning their heat. Also winning their heat was the Jr Men's team of Colin Thomas, Keith Carroll and Chad Horne.

Alex, Bri & Mariah "chill" after making their relay final which will be skated tonight.


For the 500 finals tonight you should watch for:

JUNIOR LADIES

58 KOREA
62 KOREA
47 ITALY
49 ITALY

Mark my words............ this is going to be a battle!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

JUNIOR MEN

31 COLOMBIA
62 ITALY
85 USA - CHAD HORNE
26 COLOMBIA

SENIOR has not been officially turned in, however I do know that Joey Mantia has made the 500-meter final. He has chosen to step out of the relay for the heats (which every team can do) and Josh Wood will skate in Joey's place with Jonathan Garcia and Sebastian Cano. If this team qualifies for the final tonight, Josh Wood will step down and Joey Mantia will skate the event.

Each team is allowed to turn in four names to the officials. Should one of those skaters become unavailable to skate, you can substitute with the 4th skater. Which in this case is a smart move to save Joey's legs.

We believe that the Sr Women's team of Sara Sayasane, Heather Richardson and Brittany Bowe have qualified for the finals. The reason we are not sure is that it appeared that there were only 2 heats of women (again... no information to the press) . If so their 3rd place finish would be good enough for the final event. If there were 3 or more heats, then they would only take two to the final.

Senior Men's Team USA just qualified in heat one, first place, easily for the final. Another hot night tonight... and not just the weather!

Linda

Sr Ladies - What a race for Colombia & all 15K RESULTS

I am thankful that no one went down in this race.

Colombia did what they do best... sit back, together, in abut the 8th or 9th spot until the last 12-14 laps and then start moving up or passing back and forth. These girls are rested and have allowed the pack to push them through the turns without being up front fighting for first or second (not that our girls did this)... but many others did. With 25 laps to go I noticed Britt move up behind Jess and tap her on the back to go. Jess looked to the side and stepped out on the back straightaway. As she powered down the back side and into turn 2, Brittany followed. Both girls shot up in to the 1 & 2 spot. Once Britt knew that Jess was safe, Britt was done. Brittany skated to the center. That is a true teammate. One who knows that she has nothing left and yet before she quits or dies off, she takes care of Team USA, her teammate, her friend.

Jessica lasted another 10-12 laps and then was eliminated. With 10 to go the Colombians had to work for it, but gave a great show. Congratulations to them.

The Senior Mens race started off with Joey and Jonathan separated from the gun. Although they did get together a couple of times and were up in the front for a few laps (about 6-8) and then they were separated again. It was with 15 laps to go that Jonathan was eliminated and Joey I don't think realized he was alone until it was about 6 to go. By then Joey was in the back and it was an up hill battle. He did a great job finishing third while Korea and Colombia battled till the end. Korea taking the first spot and Colombia the second.

I have completely enjoyed myself tonight... even during the Jr Ladies race which I got a "little" heated over. I have been up in the Press Box that is about 5ft by 8ft. I have shared this "box" with several Colombian Men as they have been announcing live radio coverage. They are the only ones that haven't "kicked us to the curb". The guys stole a table from one of the other press rooms and a couple of chairs a all of a sudden we are a working press room!!! Honestly we couldn't have done the reporting and photos that we did today without "BOOM 99.1" Radio Station.

Well the 1,000's are up... I will report on these races after I return home tonight.

JR LADIES 15K

1st Colombia
2nd Korea
3rd Chile

JR MEN

1st Korea
2nd Korea
3rd Colombia

SR LADIES

1st Colombia
2nd Korea
3d Colombia

SR MEN

1st Korea
2nd Colombia
3rd USA - Joey Mantia


L & A
Stay tuned. Linda

JR MEN 15K ELIM GOES QUICK FOR USA

I decided to video the Jr Mens race since it was so hard to type. I apologize for all of the typo's.. just wanted you to know what was going on.... the reason I got so angry about that last race was that Bri was up front (top 2 or 3) and they "called the race" so she stood up. Then all the other girls kept going. Bri dropped near the back (not because she couldn't keep up... but she listened to what the referee's said... just like at home), unfortunately that may have cost her.

Again my hat is off to Bri and Skylar for a great effort. That fall was nasty... and no... I didn't get it! By the way... the team that cheated by cutting down underneath the girls that were injured and went from near last to first was the Chile team. That was also the girl who was fighting with Sky and also finished 3rd.


But I did get the one in Jr Men with Hank Galbraith and Kevin Quandt. Several guys went down in the same corner as the girls (turn 2) and Hank and Kevin went down hard. Kevin did not get back up right away and then skated off of the track. Hank flew back up and chased to no avail. He got lapped out about 8 laps later. Again great job guys.

Senior ladies - it appears that Britt and Jess will be skating this race. Linda

p.s. pictures will follow later tonight or tomorrow morning. Over 500 photos of Jr Ladies and Mens race alone.

#5

With 18 to go Bri almost got eliminated. She is ticked and on her way back up on the outside.. now she is in 4th. These girls look tires, but Korea is STILL leading. Germany and France go to the outside and almost go down. Bri is still in there with 9 laps remaining and 9 girls left.

On the outside is the cheater..................... Argentina was just eliminated. Bri is fighting for 4th... there goes CHina... yep just CHina, she's leading 6 laps to go. France is eliminated. Germany is leading, there goes China Colombia slides into 2nd............ OMG,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, Bri is top 6 now... just one more elim... there goes Bri... these girls are flying .. sit down .... Korea... Colombia.. Colombia Korea I think COLOMBIA HAWKED HER!!!!!!!!!... WE HAVE IT ... IT WAS COLOMBIA, KOREA, THE CHEATER AND I THINK BRI FINISHED 5TH.

On the last elim.. I think Germany or China was eliminated but they got in Bri's way, which slowed her down so much that there was no recovering. Team USA you ROCK.

Now someone go protest that thing!!!!!!!! Let's re-run it... our girls can do it!

Linda
p.s. remember everything written here is ONLY my opinion and has nothing to do with INLINE PLANET or anyone else. Now Kevin & Hank are warming up right ow... stay tuned...

#4 Jr Lad

Two girls are still on the track... it looks like Sky is out... Bri almost fell but got caught up in it and had to wlrk hard to catch... only Korea, France and the ones that Sky were fighting with have partners.................... Bri... THEY JUST CALLED THE RACE WITH 29 LAPS TO GO................ THEY LET THEM GO 10 - THE GIRLS ARE NOT STOPPING.. THEY DO NOT WANT TO LEAVE THE TRACK - THIS IS B.S.

All of the girls kept going and the ones that were fighting with Sky cut down under the girls that fell and went from near last to the front.CHEAT.............. CHEAT......... CHEAT.......... Korea goes down now, Italy almost follows her.. 22 laps to go..... Korea, Colombia and the cheating team are your top 4 skaters. They have allowed the race to continue. I WOULD PROTEST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This is the wolrd championships and this is not fair....

#3 Jr Ladies

Wit 37 to go we are in 4th and 5th and now we are on the outside. How quickly it can change . We are hurting.. back 12 girls go down... SKy fallls Bri is safe,,,,

Cont Jr Ladies

Bri and Skylar are now back in 7th and 9th. They seem to be working harder than they need to. I know it is so hard to be out there... and so easy to be up here. Right now France is costing at about the 3/4 mark of the straightaway and through the corner and allowing the other girls behind her to push her through the turn. That is an excellent way to save energy. Our girls were coasting the straight and stepping the corners which is actually harder on the legs (IN MY OPINION). With 52 laps to go Bri is leading Sky up on the outside, they are now 1 and 2.......... ky is checking the outside and here comes China. I am VERY surprised at how slow this is.

Our girls are working it again on the outside. The next elim is at lap 42 and we have 47 to go.... Bri is now in 5th, Sky is FIGHTING with a firl I think from Netherlands... (Holland)... Sky won.

There are now 40 laps remaining and our girls are together at 4 and 6.

Junior Ladies 15K Elim

They have started Briana Kramer is currently in 2nd and has dropped back no further than 5th. Skylar McCormick in her first World's is starting to shake some the nerves off. She has moved from the back of the pack to the middle..... at lap 69 a few girls go down... one is New Zealand..., Bria and Sky are now 1 and 2.... with 60 laps to go..

ARE YOU READY?????

Things are really starting to cook here at the 2007 World Championships in Cali, Colombia! Right now as the towns people and athletes arrive, they have entertainment going on. Currently there is a Colombian Swing dance group that is young and very good.

As I type, Ms. Mariah Richardson-USA is walking out for presentation of her 300-meter Silver medal. Colombia took 1st and 3rd !!

The first race of tonight will be the 15K Elimination Race. I don't know about you, but I'm itching to know who will be in these races.

The warm-ups do not give anything away as it is required (by Team USA) that each athlete keep their legs loose by skating every warm-up except the warm-ups that skaters must qualify to, as those warm-ups have a specified number of skaters that are allowed out on the track.

So your guess is as good as mine right now!! Team USA looks good for Team USA. I know those of us here wish them all the very best and know they are giving 100%.

I have the official 1000-meter FINAL events:

JUNIOR LADIES:

49 Italia
63 Korea
21 Colombia
58 Korea
22 Colombia
74 Venezuela
12 China Taipei
30 Alemania (Germany)

JUNIOR MEN

79 Korea
86 USA - Colin Thomas
30 Colombia
43 Alemania (Germany)
61 Italy
94 Venezuela
42 France
95 Venezuela

SENIOR LADIES

67 USA - Brittany Bowe
29 Colombia
62 Korea
23 China Taipei
35 Germany
38 Holland
70 USA - Jessica Smith
13 Chile

SENIOR MEN

120 USA - Joey Mantia
50 France
33 China Taipei
96 New Zealand
29 China Taipei
38 Colombia
52 France
95 New Zealand

I promise to give you the names to at least the top 3 in each event and more if time permits! Hope you are watching... Joey is coming up next to receive his award. CHOW...
Linda

PHOTOS ADDED....

Ananda Jolliff from Southern California, USA, takes a well deserved break eating "CHICKEN ON A STICK"

Due to the size and the complicated manner in which I must download pictures, I have added only 2 photos to the 1000-meter article. You will be able to find several more on my "flickr" site located at:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/woodsk8/sets/72157601469274778/

Please stop by and take a look at these.

I would like to thank ANANDA JOLLIFF for ALL of her help taking photos. All of today's photos were taken by Ananda.. well over 300 for the morning session. We have downloaded about 40 which took over 2 hours to download, go through and delete those that we could not use and improve those that needed it. Then name and resize each one. Then our final step is to go to FLICKR and download them there and add "tags". That is why it takes so much time for us to download.

1000-METER RACES

A sea of umbrellas adorn the stands. How hot is it? Hot enough for almost every Colombian to have their umbrella up!

Once again we arrived after the completion of the Jr Ladies 1000-meter heats. I can't apologize enough to Team USA, but we are limited as to when we can come and go. Most likely we will just stay at the track today in between the morning and evening sessions to guarantee that we will be here for the start of the 1000-meter finals and the 15K Elimination Race finals.

Right now they are completing the semi-finals for all of the 1000-meter races.

Mariah Richardson made the semi-final in the 1000-meter race. How the skaters move on is determined by the winner of each race, plus the next so many fastest times. Some of the heats have been very slow. This means that usually just the winner will advance on to the next semi or final out of that heat. The other skaters might come out heat 2 or three. For instance they would take the winner and then the next 6 skaters out of heat 2 for a total of 8 to the final. There is always 8 on the line for a quarter, semi or final.

Mariah stepped up to the line and looked ready to skate. But when the gun went off she was 7th off of the line. She had to work hard and never caught up to the two leaders. At one point she was in 5th place on the last 2 laps but did the unthinkable (which is very easy to do when skating under this kind of pressure), she stopped skating before the line and was passed by just 1 or 2 strokes before the finish line. I don't think she expected that. All skaters need to remember.. it is not over until AFTER you cross the finish line!

Next up were our Jr Men. Both of our guys made it out and into the same semi. That happens often and is just dependent upon your finish time from the prior heats. They do a serpentine rotation by times to "seed" the skaters and many times you will have two Colombians, two Americans and two Italians in the same semi. Those are the fun ones!

Keith Carroll and Colin Thomas both skated well in the heats. Thomas from Texas would throw 2 awesome "indoor" late passes to take the lead two different times and the win in his heat. It was not easy, but it was incredible. Keith Carroll who has surprised me at these Championships and appears to get stronger and more confident each race, lead most of his heat (at the World Championships you can't mess around for those of you thinking he should just "sit in the back of the pack") but was just out skated in the last lap. Onto the semi's as I said, both boys were in the same semi. This worked to their advantage as they were able to work together, but not before both boys stumbled off of the start. They had to work double hard to come across first for Colin (he got that from one more of those indoor passes1), 2nd for Colombia at the line and 3rd for Keith in their semi. Colin Thomas won the semi so he is guaranteed a spot in the finals with Keith having to wait until it is announced, but their semi looked strong. (Results were just announced and I only heard one USA number. I can only assume that Keith did not make it. It is now official that Keith did not make the final.)

In the photo to the left, Colin Thomas, in 5th is not letting anybody in!

Next was both of our Senior Ladies. Brittany Bowe was sluggish off of the line and once her feet got moving she skated well until the last lap where she seemed to loose a little of her fire that we have seen. She finished 3rd in her heat which was good enough to move on to the final. Next up was Jessica. She was last off the line... by a lot. She appeared to be ready at the line, until the gun went off. But Jess is a fighter and fight she did. She ended up third in the race and thankfully made the final.

Nicole Begg won her semi (with Brittany looking MUCH better) but it was announced that she was disqualified. It appeared to me that she did not do anything bad enough to warrant a DQ, but I am up here and the officilas are down there. The minute it was announced all of the officials quickly came together and were in a circle talking for several minutes. It did not apear that any one person was upset or waving their hands... they were just talking. A few minutes later, Nicole was reinstated and only given a warning. In Nicole's defense... she is one of the cleanest Senior Ladies out there besides our own.

Senior Men had ten heats... in the heat! At one point between heat 5 and 6, there was about a 30 minute break or "downtime". I do not know why this happened but it allowed us to get some much needed shade. It feels like it is well into the 100+ degrees.

Our Senior Men were fortunate enough to skate in heats 1 and 3 so they were able to take their skates off and get some much needed shade and rest. Joey Mantia skated the first heat. He was the first one off of the line and looked ready to skate. He had to work a bit, but easily made the semi.

Justin Stelly of Kearns, UT, appearing at his first World Championships seemed just a tad bit nervous as he stepped to the line. When the gun went off Justin appeared to react at the same time as everyone else. But stumbled several times. Possibly hitting skates with other skaters. It's always hard to see exactly what happens looking through a camera lens into the sun. So if I mis-state or mis-quote exactly what happened in a race.... I apologize now to the skaters, parents and family. This is such an important race that I always like to make sure that we state everything factual.

Once Justin got his feet back underneath him... he was moving quickly. Again being at World's once your behind, it is very hard to catch up. Milliseconds is all that separates the best in the world. Justin was able to pull up but not enough to move onto the semi's.

Joey Mantia was in the first semi and the first time the gun went off he appeared to have trouble getting off the line which is VERY unusual for him. I believe he was fifth off of the line but the race was brought back by the officials so something must have happened. Joey was ready the second time around and moved first but was 2nd at the first turn behind one of the Koreans, who have been extremely impressive this year. By the 2nd lap Joey was still in second, but this time it looked like an "Italian Sandwich" with Italy in 1st and 3rd but it was obvious to me... Joey wastotally in control. He came around the Italian with a lap and a corner to go, with New Zealand following close behind to easily win his semi. So it looks like we will have the following in the finals tonight:

1000-Meter finals
****************
JUNIOR MEN

Colin Thomas

SENIOR LADIES

Brittany Bowe
Jessica Smith

SENIOR MEN

Joey Mantia


And lets not forget... we have 8 skaters in the 15K... this will make for some great excitement.

Watch for photos that will be up in a bit. We are on a 3 1/2 hour break and Ananda and I are staying at the track to keep you updated and put some new photos up.

L & A

MANTIA - THE FASTEST MAN IN THE WORLD!

Joey Mantia skated the race of a lifetime tonight. With so many breaks for technical difficulty it amazed me to watch him keep his cool. If there was a plan earlier today.... it worked. He approached the line cool and calm. Set his feet in the "V" position. Balanced... reached back (daylight), rocked back... loaded and exploded.

The only problem was as Joey approached the line the clock had 17 seconds on it and was quickly counting backwards. By the time Joey left the line there still was one second left and they called him back because of a timing problem. Joey slowly rolled around the track wondering what he had done wrong. I was hoping that someone would be able to tell him it wasn't his fault but the timer.

They spent a few moments fixing the timer again... and Joey once again approached the line to set up for his 300-meter time trial. Like the well-oiled machine he is, he once again performed an almost flawless start. I personally thought he had a little problem with his transition into his corner. It wasn't fluid. It was off just a hair. But once he got through that corner there was no looking back. When he broke into the 24's, what few people that were left "oohhh'd and aaahhh'd" You could hear that famous call of his father Big Joe, "JOOOOEEEEYYYYY". It gives me the chills.

Joey would have to wait through 8 more skaters before learning that he was now THE FASTEST MAN IN THE WORLD!! Here is how the skaters finished:

1st - USA - Joey Mantia 24.756
2nd - France - Julien Despaux - 24.872
3rd - Italy - Gregory Duggento - 25.018

To make it that much sweeter.... when the last skater had completed his 300- meters and had not skated faster than Joey... All of the Men's Senior Team from Team USA jumped the railing and ran to him. They were grabbing and hugging him. They even performed "That Magic Huddle" with the Jr's and Senior guys.... I only wish that I had been able to take a picture. As Joey skated away from his proud teammates, he put his head in his hands for several seconds and then raised his hands into the air in triumph!! It is a night he will never forget.

On a personal note:

I have watched Joey grow from a young Junior Boy into a strong Senior Man. He has an incredible work ethic and I am proud to have had the opportunity to be here today to watch this young man achieve his dream. Congratulations Joey!!! Linda

SR WOMEN 300-Meter Time Trial

We were supposed to start tonight's events at 5pm. They didn't get going until 5:40. Then we have had so many technical difficulties that we were supposed to be finished by 9pm and here it is 10:50 and the Senior Ladies are not finished (2 left) and we still have the Senior Men. Most of the people got up and left the venue sometime around 8pm when the technical problems lasted for more than 30 minutes.

The only people left are the real "skaters" and the workers. The stands might as well be empty!

Brittany Bowe and Heather Richardson both were in the final twelve tonight and did an outstanding job. But the the top 3 would go:

SENIOR LADIES:


1st - Italy - Nicoletta Falcone 26.971
2nd - Colombia - Berenice Moreno - 27.055
3rd - Italy - Erika Zanetti - 27.045

6th Brittany Bowe - USA - 27.125
8th Heather Richardson - USA - 27.285


Just as I had suspected, Sebastian Cano finished only one away from the top twelve. With the 13th place finish he said that he was a little disappointed but would be back in whatever races the coaches give him to skate.

HERE WE SIT......

This has to be the 10th time (no exaggerating here) that we have had to wait for "technical" difficulties!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! They have "painted" the track (a white line to separate the track from the inside-duhhh), they have put cones up to move the beam in on the start and on the finish and we are STILL waiting. I do have results from the Jr Women 300m:

Junior Ladies 300-m

1st - Colombia - Elizabeth Arnedo 27.384
2nd - USA - Mariah Richardson 27.611
3rd - Colombia - Sara Vallejo - 27.674


Junior Men 300-Meter

1st Colombia - Pedro Causil - 25.018
2nd Australia - Daniel Greig - 25.054
3rd Colombia - Carlos Danon - 25.077
4th Italy 25.570
5th Korea 25.588

7th USA - Chad Horne - 25.635
8th USA - Keith Carroll - 25.786

This is now official.....

10K PTS/ELIM SENIOR WORLD CHAMPIONS

Senior Ladies

1st Korea - Woo,Hyo Sook (provided by one of our readers) THANK YOU
2nd - Colombia - Liana Holguin
3rd - New Zealand - Nicole Begg


Senior Men

1st - Italy
2nd - New Zealand - Scott Alridge
3rd - France

Final event for the 300-meter time trials are coming up.... hopefully you are watching lthe live coverage!!!

10K POINTS/ELIM Junior WORLD CHAMPIONS

Junior Ladies

1st Korea - Seul Ki Kook
2nd Korea - Seul Lee
3rd Italy - Roberta Casu

Junior Men

1st Korea - Young Su Won
2nd Italy - Davide Amabili
3rd Belgium - Bart Swings

SENIOR MEN UP IN THE AIR!!

Wow... this was not an easy one to predict or keep track of while I was video taping. I believe that Korea won again, but Italy and New Zealand were right there as were a few other countries.

They are getting ready to award the races I will be able to give you more information then. Thanks for dropping in! Linda & Ananda

KOREA WINS AGAIN!!

Although I am unofficial and sitting up in the stands video taping 50 laps round and round... it was evident that #58 from Korea will most likely win the Senior World Class Ladies 10K Pts/Elim race. Like her Jr Man counterpart, she took off with 25 to go and led every lap, sometimes as much as 100 meters out front, until the last 3 laps. It was then that the two Colombian girls took over to "win the race" one and two, but it might not have been enough for even a placement!

Nicole Begg from New Zealand skated a great race. Early on stealing points here and there, coming up on the outside or chasing the girls down to take points away. But once the girl from CT got out front, the story would not change and the battle would be for 2nd place points. The Sr men are up and ready to skate. L & A

CONTROVERSARY ALREADY????

Back just a few posts ago I told you about the Junior Man from Colombia who was disqualified for skating inside the track at least 3 times. There were other skaters who were disqualified for the same reason. But during the Senior Men's competition for the 300-meter elimination round, I heard a Colombian womaning screaming with sounds of joy. It went on and on for several minutes. I looked over to Ananda and said, "I bet that is the mother of the Jr Man who was disqualified earlier. You watch, he will be back in the final, mark my words."

Well just as I suspected... that skater that ran a 24.99 and was disqualified, is back in the final. And if that's not bad enough, the skater that was originally in the 12th position is no longer in the final and moved back to 13th!!!

RUMOR HAS IT... again this is only rumor... but from a pretty good source... that the Vice President of the CIC basically said that "he will skate" and so it is.... We will see what happens tonight.

We missed the Jr Womens 10k Pt/Elim... sorry... have not heard anything.

Jr Men were represented by Colin Thomas and Kevin Quandt. Early on they were strong and both received points. On one of the laps Colin hawked for second place points. But with 35 laps to go (they started with 50) they started showing some fatigue. I can tell you this is the hardest race at World's in my opinion. And ANYONE who skates this race earns brownie points in my book! But when number 84 of Korea took off with 30 laps to go with his arms behind his back... and continued to stay out front as much as 100-125-meters ahead, what can you say... he led all of the laps except the last two. It was an incredible race.

Senior Ladies are warming up now. L & A

CANO SKATES WELL- but 25.60 may not be enough!

USA's Sebastian Cano warms up for his qualifying run in today's 300-meter time trial.

USA's Sebastian Cano did everything right. While the first heat skated, he had his skates off and relaxed in a chair out in the middle of the track with teammate Joey Mantia.

On his start, his front foot rolled back a good inch or two (far enough back that we we could see what happened from our vantage point across the track, road course and up in the bleachers). The official did not call him back, which is always a good thing. As he continued on his line, he looked good from our vantage point and he had only one "hop step" coming out of the second turn that might have slowed him down a bit. As he came across the line, his time was 25.60 seconds. So close and yet ... possibly so far!

With at least nine skaters in the 25.50 range or LOWER — and the Colombian, Australian, Italy, Argentina and Chinese Taipei skaters yet to race — Sebastian could be on the outside looking in. He has worked so hard; and he skated a great race. ... We will have to wait and see.

You will not believe it... they keep changing times for skaters. The skater from Mexico just posted a time of 24.81... he truly did not skate a 24.81. The crowd kept telling the officials. ... Next thing you know, they are looking at the clock and then they changed his time to 26.56. It makes you wonder: are they changing times to help them out???? I am not saying that anyone is cheating, but it makes you wonder. That's all.

L & A

MANTIA - 25.47*** KALON DOBBINS INJURED***

USA's Joey Mantia waits before the start of his 300-meter time trial qualifier.

************************** BREAKING NEWS **********************************

JUST IN.. AS KALON DOBBINS GOT OFF OF THE LINE AND TOOK THE 3RD OR 4TH STEP INJURY HAS TAKEN HIM OUT OF THIS RACE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have been told that he injured himself last week, a possible groin pull or tear... and he was screaming for a doctor!! All of racing has come to a stand still.

************************************************************************************

With the Senior Men not even half over, Mantia posts a 25.47 after waiting more than 5 minutes while the officials fixed another problem with the timing equipment.

The skater before Joey didn't get past the 200-meter mark before he was officially stopped by the referees whistles. The clock never started so neither did his time. Joey was like a caged animal as he first paced back and forth, then practiced his running starts and then rolled the whole track. This kind of "wait" is very difficult for any athlete, but more so for the elite athlete who has his whole season on the line for a mere 25 seconds of time that he or she can show the world what they can do.

Joey got off the line very well and skated a strong first corner, hugging the blue line, powering down the first straightaway he seemed to "glance" over at the clock almost as if he was checking his 100-meter split time and then appeared to "just skate". Honestly I think (and this is just MY opinion) Joey might be saving it for tonight. He might not want to go into the final in first (having to skate last) or go into the final in 12th (where he would have to skate first). But if he was playing with time, I hope he played it right.

Gregory Diggento, the fastest man in the world, just finished skating posting a 25.10. So far the fastest skater is the skater from China Taipei with a 24.81. Even the first Colombian, who just finished posted a time of 25.74.

I will be back...L & A

They just announced that ONLY the Senior Men will have HEATS for the 10K Points/Elim race immediately following the completion of the 300-m.

Joey must prepare himself again as he and teammate Jonathan Garcia will be representing Team USA in those heats. Due to having to charge all of these batteries.... I must go back to the room. I will not be here to give you those results. The finals tonight will be incredible. While Ananda takes down all of the information, I will be videotaping everything. I do not want to promise that I will be updating as fast as today.

SENIOR LADIES RESULTS

Just in... Senior Ladies results. Talk about a tough field... Wow.... Brittany and Heather both skated well. There are a few places that small things can be fixed by tonight. But here is what we have:

1 - #25 Colombia
2 - #26 Colombia
3- #62 S. Korea
4 - #61 S. Korea
5 - #23 Chinese Taipei (CT)
6 - #67 USA - Brittany Bowe
7- #52 Italy
8- #48 Italy
9# 15 Chile
10 - #69 USA - Heather Richardson
11 - #22 C.T
12 - #64 Spain

The Senior Men just started. It appears that Joey Mantia will be skating in the first block as he still has his skates on. Sebastian Cano has his skates off at the moment. The young skater from China Taipei just ran a 24.81 which is the only skater to break a 24. Although the powerhouses of Italy, USA, Colombia and let's not forget the Dobbins brothers from New Zealand, have yet to run. More as things develope!!

Linda & Ananda
(Thanks Robert Burnson with Inline Planet for helping us make this happen!!)

COLOMBIAN UPSET-DISQUALIFICATION

The Colombian (Armando Rojas?) that set the 24.91 has been disqualified for stepping onto the gray line (same as skating on our red line!). He was caught three times doing so. This is a HUGE upset for Colombia.

USA's Chad Horne and newcomer Keith Carroll both made the 12 man finals! Great job. We will see both of them back tonight.

Currently the senior ladies are skating. Brittany Bowe and Heather Richardson are representing the USA. Brittany skated a good line and finished with a 27.30 and Heather finished with a 27.50.

One of the Colombian girls just finished and broke into the 26's.... with a 26.92. Again I am sorry that I have no names to go with the country's or number's that I am giving you. We have ASKED many times and will continue to do so until we can get some answers. More to come... stay tuned.

Linda and Ananda

JR MEN - NEED FAST TIME TO QUALIFY

Chad Horne (left) Keith Carroll warming up for the 300-meter time trial.

Junior Men have some stiff competition. Not that I thought it would be easy, but in order to make the 12 Man final, these athletes will HAVE to skate in the low to mid 25 second or low 26 second 300-meter times!! Right now with ¾’s of the group completed, USA's Chad Horne is in approximately 7th pace (25.94). I say “approximately” because the clock has had several malfunctions and many skaters have had to restart in this division. It has not been the skaters fault but the fault of the timing equipment. Sometimes it does not stop, other ties it goes for several minutes while the crowd boo’s and the skater becomes upset that their time did not count.


Keith Carroll just completed skating with a time of 26.24. He is still in the hunt with about 8 skaters to skate. Anything can happen as we have seen in the Junior events over the years. Stay tuned for more updated information!

Here comes the final Colombian... the crowd is almost deafening... he is flying down the back straight away, he coasts the last corner... he drives down the last straight to the line..... wooowwww OFFICIA TIME 24.99!!!!!!!!!!


Linda Wood &
Ananda Jolliff

JUNIOR LADIES ELIMINATION RESULTS

USA's Mariah Richardson after finishing her 300-meter time trial.

It’s only 10:47am and it must be close to 95-98 degrees. The sweat is running down my back like the shower I took this morning!!

As is customary (as my host family keeps telling me), the World Championships in Colombia started one hour later than scheduled. Good thing as Ananda and I had a very hard time finding a place to “stand” as Press. Although they have given us a press bracelet, they do not allow us to go everywhere the “real” press gets to go! But just wait, we are pushy Americans. LOL

Junior World Class Ladies just finished their first Time Trial. With Alexandra Harris (Virginia) and Mariah Richardson (North Carolina) representing USA. We missed the first few skaters that included Alex. We apologize to Alex, as I know she skated her heart out.

Currently we have the young skater #12 from Chinese Taipei is currently in first (remember we missed the first few skaters) with a time of 27.54 followed by Argentina #3 with a time of 27.61. Mariah Richardson had a time of 28.07.

It is official… just announced the following placements:

1 - #12 C.T
2 - # 3 Argentina
3 - # 14 C.T.
4 - # 4 Argentina
5 - #21 Colombia
6 - #662 Korea
7 - #16 Colombia
8 - # 47 Italy
9 - #69 USA – Mariah Richardson
10 - #63 South Korea
11 - #65 Spain
12 - # 30 – India

Again there is no information currently available to us to tell you who these skaters are by name. Please bare with us as we beg and borrow for this information. The top twelve skaters will compete tonight in the finals of the 300-meter time trial. They will skate in inverse order this evening (meaning that 12th will skate first). Anything can happen as we have seen in the past. Good luck to Mariah.

Linda

Colombia Welcomes the World

A marching band performs on the infield during Friday's opening ceremonies in Cali. Opposite the band are men and women wearing costumes representing the 50 nations at the championships.

Tonight was a spectacular show as Colombia opened the 2007 World Speed Skating Championships. It was not without a few glitches that started a few hours earlier.

As you know I am staying with a wonderful family and would not trade my experience for anything! Although their youngest son, Juan Philipe skates Senior World Class Men, and just missed making the Colombian team. They have never experienced an actual World event. So when the event was supposed to start at 5pm tonight, I wanted to leave around 4:15 or 4:30pm. We are only 5 minutes from the venue. They kept telling me "Not to worry, Colombians never start on time". I tried to explain that for the World Championships and all of the Dignitaries that were assembled all in one place, that they would start close to the published time of 5pm.


Finally at 5:30 I talked them into leaving. We were trying to pull out of our complex and the traffic was stopped dead. People were honking, but no one was moving. Finally 3 cars made it through the intersection per light. Driving is much different here. You just close your eyes and pray all the way to the venue! It took us 45 minutes and me getting out of the car and begging the "Policia" to please let us through. After a moment, he agreed and were once again in another line stuck in rows of cars. It was Daniel, their older son who suggested that we hop out and walk the rest of the way. I could not believe my eyes when we approached the entrance. Hundreds and hundreds of people wrapped around 2 sides of the fenced in area about 5-8 wide. Daniel's mother rushed us to a special line and after being pushed very tight and VERY close to the person in front of me, we were allowed in. The gentleman was kind and we both laughed about the incident but if you are claustrophobic this is not the place for you.


Once inside Ananda and I went straight to the Press area. Again, there are people older than my deceased grandmother who have "press passes" and no cameras or anything remotely close to a pen and paper, who are sitting in the press area. We had to fight our way in and find a spot. Ananda who is usually not very aggressive has learned you must be pushy and somewhat demanding if you want what is yours. All we wanted was the space that we were promised!


We got some great footage of opening ceremonies but my cables to connect from the video camera to the computer are in my luggage. And as of day 5, I still have no luggage. But I did get a few pictures until those become available.


At one point they had over 12,000 Colombians on the track performing Salsa dancing as the rest of the crowd did the wave. Once again it was breath taking and something that is too hard to describe!

Additional photos available here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/woodsk8/sets/72157601469274778/

Linda

This is a quick video of the last night's practice.

Opening Ceremonies

Thousands watch the opening ceremonies of the 2007 World Speed Skating Championships in Cali, Colombia. (Photo: Alexander Bont)

There is No Such Thing as Luck - Only Opportunities

The first corner of the banked track and road course in Cali. The setup is almost identical to the one last year at Anyang, South Korea.

I finally figured it out: luck has nothing to do with it. At first, I thought we were lucky to be going to Colombia, then unlucky because we had engine trouble with the plane (and sat on the runway for over an hour and a half), then lucky because we didn’t miss our next flight despite landing just minutes before it left, then unlucky because our luggage did not make it … And now on Day 3 and still NO clothes, I am not sure what to think. (Sigh) ... The only thing the airline tells us is IF the baggage arrives, it will come on the 10:30 p.m. flight (that is always late). When the baggage does arrive, they will be sure and call us right away. Even if it is 2 a.m. Oh, boy!

So today we had to go shopping again. This time it was for clothes. Did you know that the Colombians are built MUCH different than we are? Trust me, it's true.

I know that Brittany Bowe has been down this road many times herself and I would have asked her for her opinion, but I have not seen Team USA since I arrived. In fact, as far as I know, Ananda and I are the only two Americans that have arrived! (Just kidding parents, your children are fine ... I think.) After spending many hours in two shopping malls, we had enough clothes for the next two days. We then traveled to the track for the first time since we have been here.

The Colombians have outdone last year’s host of the World Championship, South Korea. The year's venue has far more seating, bigger buildings, a great facility for the media and press, and nicer seats for those who wanted to pay for them. For $60-100, you get an assigned seat for all the racing. It's a good idea to get an assigned seat. Last times the World Championships were in Colombia (2000), the number of spectators reached 20,000 and some people were turned away.

As for the track, it's wider than the one in Colorado Springs. From what I can tell, it is not as tall (or maybe as aggressive in the corners) as the Colorado track. But the hump is another thing. It appears to be higher and longer than ours. This shrinks the straightaway, which appears to be relatively short in length.
Tonight I watched Colombia, Ecuador and Mexico practice. When they pushed the pace, they stayed so low in the corners that they hit the blue paint and would slip and stop skating. I am not sure why they are skating so low, it could be any number of reasons, including equipment, lack of skill and technique, or a poor surface. We will have to wait and see!

The Colombian Federation, organizer of the event, does everything on a grand scale and Cali is no different. But they have not finished work on some buildings and walkways. However, it wouldn’t surprise me if they finished by tomorrow. I am not sure what the parking situation is like. It looks like many of the spaces close to teh venue are filled with work vehicles. That may change tomorrow with opening ceremonies (which start at 5 p.m.)

Tonight, Ananda and I collected our media badges, so we can now use the wi-fi and computers set up for the press. I wonder where the 400 media representatives will sit? I have posted more photos and will continue to update my own “flickr account” at:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/58909696@N00/sets/


Keep stopping by for interviews with the skaters, racing photos and even a QuickTime video or two.


Linda Wood

No Luggage - Day 2 !!!!

The pool area where we are staying

Unlucky me!

Well, we made the plane but our luggage did not. We weren't really surprised. We figured it was left behind in Miami since we almost missed our flight.

Fortunately, we both brought a few extra things, although only enough for one day. In Colombia, you must wait until two days after your flight to retrieve your lost luggage. That is due to custom regulations. And on top of that you must go and actually pick up your own luggage. They will not deliver it. They say this is because we arrived on an international flight. The airport is almost an hour away by car.

As of tonight, they have not called to say that our luggage has arrived. All 21 of my blank videos are in the two bags along with all of my clothes, shoes, raincoat, poncho (it really rained today!!) chargers, power surge strip and so much more that I need. We were able to go and buy shampoo, conditioner, deodorant and a few other things, but the majority of what we need is in our luggage.

We did not make it out to the track today due to a horrendous afternoon storm. So where else do you go when you cannot skate? Shopping of course! Check out some of the photos here and on my photo page. (http://www.flickr.com/photos/woodsk8/sets/72157601469274778/

Hopefully we will be back tomorrow!!

Linda Wood

Lucky Me!

Lucky me. I woke up at 3 a.m. to be at the airport by 4:30 a.m. My flight from Sacramento started at 6 a.m. and was a 3½-hour “ride” into the Dallas-Fort Worth. Then it was time to catch my next flight. I rode the tram from terminal A to terminal C and had just enough time to grab a Starbuck’s and check my cell phone messages before we had to board for our flight to Miami.

They loaded us quickly; they seemed to know exactly what they were doing. At one point the plane felt like it would over-flow with people if they didn’t stop loading it. But as the last seat was filled the plane started to push back for our 3-hour flight to Miami. This is the lucky part that I was talking about. We backed up about 100 ft when we stopped. Not only did we stop but also it was an abrupt stop where we rocked back and forth.

The Captain came on the intercom system and informed us that the fuel pump was not working and the number one engine was lacking fuel.

I may not know a lot about flying except that you want to be on time when checking in and make sure that each bag has your name on it somewhere (they are picky about this) and whatever you do, don’t go over the weight limit! But talk about “fuel” and “not pumping” and most important “the number 1 engine not getting any”, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know that’s not a good thing!

The good news was that the captain kept us informed through the whole process, which I really did appreciate. So we waited while they called maintenance. Then we waited while maintenance boarded the plane. We waited while the Captain explained the situation to maintenance and of course we waited while maintenance went below to check it out. An hour and a half later maintenance said it was fixed.

We are now up in the air, almost two hours late. We still have one last connection before we are to arrive in Cali, Colombia. But if we arrive at the new projected time in Miami we will have less than 12 minutes to de-plane, find our gate, run, run, run, get on our new plane (if our seats are still available) find a spot for our carry-on baggage, get strapped in sit down and shut up. But if things go as I suspect, and I am sure they will (Murphy’s Law) we’ll be spending the night in Miami. Not something that I had planned on doing. Thank goodness Team USA didn’t go through this. Not only for the skaters but for the staff! LOL

Stay tuned to find out what happens to us!


CHAPTER 2

Wow.. Unless you like confusion, do not fly into Miami’s “E” Terminal. We landed at 6:18 p.m. and our next flight left at 6:25 p.m. There is this thing in the US called “common courtesy” and somewhere along the line when people are on airplanes they don’t care that someone needs to make a connection. They are next in line to get off of the plane, so “step back baby and wait”. There were a few of us that needed to see if our plane was still on the ground. The gentleman in front of me was told that his had left and NO he couldn’t have his luggage. They would put him up in a hotel and give him coupons for dinner.

Then I stepped up to the counter and asked about the flight to Cali. The woman informed me that the plane was still on the ground and we needed to go to gate E2. We had landed at E32, so I knew we would have to run a bit. Little did I know that we would have to wait for a tram that would take us to a place that wasn’t marked, the windows and doors were all blacked out. As I was stepping off the tram I asked a young man, “Is this the way to E2?” I am not sure what he said, but it wasn’t in English or Spanish.

Finally, someone who had overheard our conversation told us the way to go. We had to go downstairs and around a corner and walk a long hallway. When we ran up to the gate the doors were closed and the plane was preparing for take-off. The attendant was helpful and took our tickets and swiped a card that opened two glass doors. I felt like I was going to meet Spock around the corner. As we ran down to the plane the girl told a man and his son that “we had shown up and now they couldn’t go to Colombia until tomorrow”. I felt horrible but there was no way that we were going to get stuck in Miami without any luggage. Come to find out his wife and other children were on the plane, so he stayed back with the older son.

Needless to say we made our flight. Ananda had the window seat and I had the isle seat. Guess who would we see as we walked down the isle sitting in the middle seat? Rachel Di Julio, youngest daughter of Paul Di Julio (MPC Wheels). Rachel was flying by herself into Cali. It was a great relief to be able to sit next to someone that we knew.

This flight is over 3 hours. When all is said and done, I will have been on three flights today. Each one has been 3-plus hours. I guess I was lucky today. It could have been worse. I could have been stuck in Texas or stuck in Miami.

Now that I have a moment to breath and look around, it is raining in Miami. As we fly over Cuba and Jamaica and finally into Cali, it is still raining. Hopefully Team USA brought lots of Vaseline for their bearings!

See ya tomorrow.

Linda Wood

Team USA Arrives in Colombia

Team USA during Residency in Colorado Springs 2 weeks ago.

As I write this, Team USA has been in Colombia for three and a half days. Based on my conversations with team members, things appear to be going well. They arrived Friday evening late (August 10th, 2007) and had their first practice Sunday morning.

The skaters say the track is very similar to the one in Colorado Springs with the hump right out of the corner and down the straightaway. It’s banked in the turns like our track but is much wider all the way around.

Some skaters think this could help Team USA. Others have their doubts. U.S. skaters are famous for their ability to handle tight turns. But with these wide turns, that won't be an advantage since skaters will be able to "rail" the turns.

As I understand it, Monday morning’s practice left a little to be desired. The World Championships start with the track races, but the Colombian organizers scheduled our skaters to practice on the road! Through the grapevine, I heard that our skaters didn’t like the sound of that any more than I did, so they asked a couple of the teams that were scheduled to practice around the same time on the track, if they could come join them. They agreed and so Team USA hit the track once again. ... Give me a break – the road course?!

With at least 30 of the 48 teams that have officially registered, already in Colombia, the Federation cannot possibly put all of the teams on the track at the same time. We understand that. Typically they put about 50 athletes on the track at one time. So it might be Team USA (24 athletes), New Zealand (approx 16) and then Canada (6 – guess-timate) on the track at the same time.

Depending on how many teams are in Colombia on any given day, each team will practice anywhere from an hour to an hour and a half, twice a day. Most hosting countries try to mix the times so that the teams have an opportunity to practice at all times. They might come in at 8-9am and then back at 3-4pm. The next day might be 10-11am and 5-6pm. This allows the skaters the opportunity to test the track conditions at all different times. But from earlier reports (on the BONT site) it sounds as if Colombia is not being a “host friendly” site, which is unusual but not unbelievable.

With my arrival tonight and a little sleep (that’s all I’ve had the last few days trying to get ready), I should be at the track tomorrow to see for myself. Please come back daily as we will update our blog at least once a day and more often if time permits.

Thanks again for joining us!

Linda Wood

HANK GALBRAITH - 3rd year Jr World Team Member

Hank Galbraith (right) with teammate Terrell Bradley at last year's World Championships in Anyang, South Korea.

I first met Hank when he made the Junior World Marathon Team in 2005. My first impression was a smart but goofy kid. There was no special reason that I felt that way, I just chalked it up to all of that springy, curly hair that seemed to flop and bounce when he had his helmet off!

Residency would confirm most of what I had suspected. But what surprised me was how hard Hank worked. Typically coaches spend more time on sprints than distance training at residency and that year was no different. Hank struggled with the sprints but never gave up. He worked just as hard on the long distance drills but his outcome was much different, fishing the drill at the front of the pack.

Watching Hank grow as a skater and a young man has been fun. I wonder if his mom and dad feel the same way??!!

I had the opportunity to email several of the skaters while they were at residency. I sent them a list of questions to answer at their leisure. Hank was the first to respond, so I wanted to showcase this young man before the Junior World Class Men’s events take place in Colombia as his name will be one to watch for.

My questions are italicized.


This is your third year on the Junior World Team. This is also
your last year as a Junior World Class skater.

I still have one more year junior, lol

Really? It must be your mature ways that made me think that you were Senior next year. Trust me, that was a compliment! ... What are your goals for this World Championship (WC)?

I really would like to gain World medals this year, because I saw the finish last year and I feel like this year I am stronger than last.

What do you plan on doing different at this World Championships than in the last two?

Skating smart, working with team mates better, and conserving as much energy as possible so that I will have it when I need it in the end.

Have you ever been to South America to compete?

No, this year will surely prove to be interesting.

Are you a picky eater?

Not really, but there are the foods I simply won’t eat…ie spinach, broccoli, etc.

What kind of foods do you like?

I like Japanese and chicken alfredo is always good.

What kind of foods do you dislike?

I really hate onions and like I said before spinach and broccoli.

Do you have any siblings?

I have one younger brother. He is 13.

I don't think that I have ever met your brother. What is his name?
Has he ever been to a speed meet or skated before?

His name is Holt. Yes he has tried speed skating before and has been to several meets including Indoor Nationals this year and he will be attending World's this year with my parents. As far as him skating speed, he just got tired of it when he actually had to start trying at practice to be good!

Since he doesn't skate, what does Holt like to do?

He plays paintball and likes to golf.

Who has been the single most important person in your skating career?
Why?

My dad, he has gone to outdoor nationals with me every year, and he always is very supportive and knows what to say to me to get me in the right mind set before races.

Do you still go to conventional school?

Yes, I go to Page High School

How many classes do you take?

We are on a traditional schedule and I take 6 classes all year.

Are you able to train?

Yes, I normally do my homework after I skate, I don’t really care how long it takes me to finish, or how late I stay up.

How many times a day or week do you train?

During the real season I normally train 6 days a week.

Do you train outside of the rink, (i.e. in the gym, cycling, off-skates,
other) ?

Not really, I probably should, lol, but it never really has appealed to me. Hopefully it will soon, because that could be an essential part of training in years to come.

When is your birthday?

February 17, 1991

When will you get to drive?

I have had my license since February and I get my restrictions off the day I get back from Worlds, so that will be exciting; being able to drive after 9 p.m.!!

Finally... tell us something that most people do not know about you?

I like music a lot, especially a lot of “chill” stuff; like Dave Matthews and a lot of Sublime. It really helps me take my mind off stuff when I need to relax at meets and other times.

Hank, we would all like to wish you the best of luck in Colombia. Oh and by the way, Hank cut most of those curls off last year. That's probably why I thought he was more mature!!

Thanks again Hank!

Linda

SHORT FACTS

Although there is only one Colombian Reporter sitting in this "designated" press zone, he is just keeping the seats warm for all of Colombia! This is from last year's World Championship in Korea. The sign really should have read "Colombia Zone" as they were the only ones allowed to sit here!

With the Opening Ceremonies beginning in just 14 days, a record number of 50 countries have registered to compete in the 2007 Inline Speed World Championships.

After the final entries were received from Honduras, India and Ukraine there are over 700 athletes, coaches, managers, sports medicine staff and delegates approved for entry into this competition. Just as surprising, will be the 400 accredited journalists from 5 continents that will be reporting on the daily competition of this Championship.

As I glance through the Official 2007 Championship website, (www.cali2007rollersport.com/) I enjoyed reading about the host city, the press and what to expect during the competition. No matter how much I read I am always surprised when I arrive at the actual skating venue. I am sure this year will be no different.

The one thing I did notice was under “Host City”. It gives you a list of the shopping centers in the area. I counted 50. If this is true there is no way that I will be able to visit all 50 of them in just 14 days! And I wasn’t sure what to think when I read the word “Gastronomical Information”. Of course I knew that it had something to do with the stomach, but with all of the sickness that everyone has had recently I honestly thought they might be giving us information on diarrhea medication. I would never have guessed that they were talking about which restaurants to eat at!!!

Check it out. There is some great information located here and even some that might make you chuckle. I know it did for me!

Just a few of the Junior WC Ladies from Colombia as they prepare for the 2006 Marathon in Korea.

Linda :)

Nine Days & TEAM USA arrives in Colombia

U.S. skaters practice at last year's World Championships in Anyang, South Korea. (Photo: Linda Wood)

In less than 2 weeks, on August 10th, 24 skaters will board airplanes in their hometowns all over the United States. They will meet in either Texas or Florida and then board planes for the relatively short flight (roughly 4 hours) to Cali, Colombia.

Once they arrive, the skaters and staff will find their rooms, unpack and try to get some sleep before heading to the track for their first practice. They will have six days to prepare before opening ceremonies start on Friday, August 17th.

I have been in touch with a few of the skaters this week as they prepare for Worlds by attending residency in Colorado Springs. They have taken the time to answer some questions at their convenience. After attending five of the last seven residencies, I know there is not much time to relax, so I feel lucky to have had a couple of the skaters respond!

Come back and see what third-year Junior World Team member Hank Galbraith has to say about his expectations for this year's Championships!

Linda