US Long Track National Championships/Olympic Trials

Do you have Olympic fever yet?

Well, get ready! It is almost here! Only 51 days to go until athletes from around the world come together to compete in Vancouver at the Olympic Games.

After a grueling travel schedule for the World Cup circuit, US Long Track speedskaters are back in Salt Lake City, UT and will have one more shot at earning their place on the 2010 Olympic Team. Over 70 skaters will be competing for the final open spots. You can be sure that athletes will be focused and will provide all-out efforts in chasing their dream.

US Long Track National Championships are being held December 26-29 at the Utah Olympic Oval. Be sure to catch the latest updates on US Speedskating or follow on Twitter @usspeedskating. Another great site for results is http://www.speedskatingresults.com/ .

Skaters have started their trek to Utah and will be training through the Christmas holiday. I have a feeling that many of the athletes have the same Christmas wish this year: Let me be the fastest across the line.

Long Track World Cup 5/ Jr. Short Track Championships

This weekend is a busy one for speedskating! Get ready to see some REALLY fast skating.

In Long Track:

ISU World Cup 5 is being held in Salt Lake City, UT and will be covered by Versus. Scheduled times are Saturday and Sunday from 11pm-1am (EST) and repeated from 1am-3am (EST). Check your local listings. Big thanks go out to Versus for covering another speedskating event!

Be prepared for lighting fast skating; yesterday, records were being broken all over the place!

In the Ladies 500m race, Jenny Wolf (GER) skated 37.00! She set a World Record (WR), National Record (NR), Track Record (TR), Personal Record (PR) AND Season Best (SB)! Whew! Wang Beixing (CHN) skated 37.14 setting her own (NR), (PR) & (SB). Lee Sang-Hwa (KOR) was only hairs behind with 37.24 also setting a (NR), (PR) & (SB).

USA claimed a new National Record with Elli Ochowicz skating a 37.74 also giving Ochowicz a (PR) and (SB). Heather Richardson (USA) skated 37.95 setting a new (PR) and (SB)!

The 3000m race was also held yesterday and these ladies were flying as well! Top three (USA) skaters:
(14) Jilleanne Rookard 4.05.05, (15) Catherine Raney Norman 4.05.26 and (18)  Nancy Swider-Peltz, Jr. 4.06.25!

In the Men's 1500m race, the track was smoking as well! Shani Davis (USA) keeps getting faster! He skated a 1.41.04, setting a new World Record (WR), National Record (NR), Track Record (TR), Personal Record (PR) and Season Best (SB)! Chad Hedrick (USA) was second with a 1.42.19! Third went to Mo Tae-Bum (KOR) who skated a 1.42.85 setting his own (NR), (PR) and (SB)! Trevor Marsicano (USA) skated his own (SB) or 1.43.88.

The 500m also proved to be fast with Lee Kyou-Hyuk (KOR) skating a 34.26 setting a (PR) and (SB). Yuya Oikawa (JPN) set a (NR) with a 34.27 as well as a (PR) and (SB). Another National Record was set for Mika Poutala (FIN) coming in with 34.31 also giving him a (PR) and (SB).  Tucker Fredricks (USA) skated a (SB) with 34.43 and Shani Davis (USA) was close behind with 34.85, another (SB)!

If you miss the times while watching racing on your local Versus channel, you can check out all racing results on SpeedskatingResults.com.

In Short Track:

Junior Short Track Championships are being held this weekend in Green Bay, WI.

1000m Time Trials were held yesterday and everyone is off to a great start!

Ladies:
1. Mary Grace, 2. Petra Acker, 3. Sarah Chen, 4. Morgan Izykowski, 5. Rachel Skrocki, 6. Katherine Ralston, 7. Rachel Stewart, 8. Andrea Dehnke, 9. Kendal Pumphrey, 10. Alaina Fiorenza, 11. Sarah Burg, 12. Katie Welsh, 13. Jerebelle Yutangco, 14. Sally Chea, 15. Jacqueline Chen, 16. Kristen Santos

Men:
1. Robert Lawrence, 2. Cole Krueger, 3. John-Henry Krueger, 4. Julian Wood, 5. Gilbert Claude , 6. Jonathan Sermeno, 7. Daniel Fiorenza, 8. Michael Burdekin, 9. Brett Perry, 10. Adam Callister, 11. Andrew Astalos, 12. Christian No, 13. Matthew Ferguson, 14. Ian Quinn, 15. James Rodwowsky, 16. Landon Hatfield.


To see updated results be sure to check out UpToSpeed on the official US Speedskating website!

I wish everyone the best of luck!