Skjellerup delighted with Olympic debut

By NAOMI ARNOLD in Vancouver - Stuff.co.nz

Photosport

ICEY COOL: Christchurch speedskater Blake Skjellerup may have missed the semifinals in the 1500m short track event but was more than pleased with his first Olympic experience.

He didn't make the semis, but short-track speed-skater Blake Skjellerup is thrilled to have his first Winter Olympic competition under his belt.

Sleek in his skin-tight black suit, the Cantabrian came fifth in the first heat of the men's 1500-metre event at Vancouver's Pacific Coliseum yesterday, finishing in 2min 14.730sec in a blistering race in which an Olympic record was set.

Canada's Jean Olivier won the heat in 2:14.279. Less than half a second separated the winners as the pack crossed the line in a tight bunch. The top three skaters in each heat race in the semifinals.

South Korea's Lee Jung-Su broke Olivier's record a short while later, and then again in the semifinals. He later beat American Apolo Anton Ohno to the gold medal in a heart-stopping final that saw his two Korean team-mates hurled into the side mats on the final lap.

The broken records showed how fast the Vancouver track was, Skjellerup said. The 24-year-old couldn't keep the grin off his face after his race.

"I feel good, really good," he said.

"Doing the 1500m, not my strongest, but the ice quality increased tenfold from the last few days [training]. It's really good, really fast, a lot of pressure, and that's what I like."

Although he admitted to a few nerves at the start, the butterflies didn't last long.

"As I was putting my skates on, I was like: `It's no different to any other day. It's the Olympics, it's a huge event, but I'll just do what I've got to do'."

Most of his race plan had been to "just sit there" in the bunch. Although he nearly took a few opportunities to make a move during the race, he instead erred on the side of caution.

"The last thing I wanted to do was get disqualified from the Olympics."

Skjellerup said he hadn't been strong in the long distances this year, although he'd had "OK" results in it before.

"I feel really happy with how it went for my first race; very excited for the next few days.

"Today was really about getting the experience and getting used to the ice and, the way I felt today, I'm really looking forward to the next two distances [500m and 1000m].

"I just wanted to get the experience and get it out of the way."

And what does it feel like to finally be an Olympian?

"It feels really good. After eight years of all that dreaming and training, it all comes true in a minute."

Short-track, often called "rodeo on ice", is an Olympic crowd favourite, with plenty of spills as athletes jostle on the 111m, ice-hockey-sized rink, reaching speeds of up to 50kmh.

Unlike the more sedate long track, in which Kiwi Shane Dobbin came 17th yesterday, in short-track events athletes must wear helmets and skin-tight Kevlar-lined suits for protection from the slashing blades.

Gloves protect their fingertips from the skates and also from the ice as they slide out one hand to balance themselves while flashing around corners.

The Pacific Coliseum rink is also being used for figure skating, which has presented a unique challenge for its ice technicians.

Between each event, "ice meisters" will perform a complicated dance of manipulation, pouring water and scraping ice to get the surface right for each event. Figure skaters like their ice thick, warm and soft, so they can dig in for jumps and spins. But speed-skaters need it to be thin, cold and hard.