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At least one country is happy with Ohno's sad performance

By GARY SHELTON
Published February 13, 2006

TURIN, Italy - Ah, to be a Korean today. What joy it must be to be a Seoul man.

Surely, there must be a party in the streets. You can imagine happy citizens doing the backstroke in the waters outside the Gyeongbokgung Palace. You can picture the guards dancing outside of the Sungnyemun Gate. Over beside the Cheonggyecheon Stream, it is difficult to tell the street performers from the skating fans.

Mighty Ahn has won!

Little Ahn has finished second!

And the imperialist Apolo Ohno? He was been knocked about and knocked out in the same race that caused so much consternation four years ago.

Talk about a country winning the triple crown. You could not fashion a better finish for Korean fans in Sunday night's 1,500-meter race in short track, that sport straight out of the Theatre of the Bizarre.

Once again, looniness prevailed. There was speed. There was jostling. Things turned strange. Ohno was involved.

Yep, just another long night at the short track, increasingly known as the freak show act of the Olympics.

This time things went the way of the Koreans. Ahn Hyun-soo, the world's top-rated short tracker, won the gold. Lee Ho-Suk, the man they call "Little Ahn," finished second.

And Ohno? Old Loco Ohno? He was left trying to explain why he was trying to pass Chinese skater Li JiaJun with two laps to go in the semifinal when it seemed a spot in the finals was all but assured. Ohno and Li made contact, and Ohno lost his balance and finished fourth.

Ohno finished his night skating with the B group, the NIT of short track. Even there, he finished only third, leaving him eighth overall.

"It's disappointing," Ohno said. "I wanted to make that final. In my mind, I felt I could have been there. Today wasn't my day. It just wasn't going to happen."

In other words, it was a different sound from four years ago, when Ohno stood on a podium and the howls from South Korea could be heard in the distance. That was the night Ohno won his gold medal after South Korea's Kim Dong-Sung was disqualified for blocking him. At the contact, Ohno had thrown his arms into the air, as if to proclaim his innocence like a football player trying to avoid a roughing-the-punter penalty.

Korean fans were incensed at the Hollywood move. E-mails, 16,000 of them, came in so furiously, they jammed the Olympic server. Death threats were received. State troopers were brought in. Ohno didn't skate in South Korea for years, and when he finally did, he was protected by 100 police officers in riot gear.

Understand, then, how sweet this must have been ... over there. Although Korea is competing as a unified nation in these Games, both these medalists are from Seoul. Presumably, so is a whole new batch of e-mail that says, roughly translated, "Nyah, nyah, nyah."

Here, short-track skating remains a visual treat - it's my favorite carnival sport - but fans view it sort of like human pinball. It is like NASCAR had a love child with roller derby and for Christmas, someone glued knives to his shoes. Glance at it, and it looks like a Kentucky Derby where all the jockeys forgot their horses.

Through it all, Ohno, the skater with the fur skidmark down his chin, is supposed to be Seabiscuit. He is the most recognized skater in the world, and most people expected him to at least stay upright long enough to meet the Koreans in the finals.

It didn't happen. With two laps to go, Ohno was in second place and seemed a lock to make the finals. But he tried to pass Li, and his left hand clipped Li's skate. Ohno kept his balance, but he lost his speed. He floated out wide and crossed the line with his head hung and his hands on his knees, knowing he was done.

"It breaks my heart to watch that," said Allison Baver, a fellow speed skater who is Ohno's girlfriend. "I know he's the best skater in the world, and he didn't have a chance to show it. But these Olympics aren't over."

Odd thing. In a news conference, Ohno can be a little, well, dull. He recites his lines like a golfer recounting his scorecard, and if you ask him, he'll tell you that everything is peachy between him and the nation that was so steamed at his existence four years ago.

Then he will go onto the track and turn into a controversy magnet.

Take Sunday night's race. Why would Ohno even try to pass Li when he had the finals cinched? Well, why not? That's why you race, isn't it?

Ohno said he was unsure of what was happening behind him and that an attempted pass was "playing it safe."

They have swapped paint before, Li and Ohno. In the 1,000 meter final four years ago, Ohno was skating well when his right arm made contact with Li, knocking Li offstride. Li tumbled forward, falling into the back of Ohno's legs. Ahn, skating third, plowed into both of them, leaving bodies strewn across the ice. Australia's Steven Bradbury, more surprised than anyone in the house, skated across the line as the winner.

Li was disqualified, and Ohno was left with a six-stitch gash in his leg.

Four years ago, two controversial races left Ohno with a gold and a silver medal. This time, the bumping left him in the junior varsity race, which, of course, featured a little more mirth.

Because of his finish, Ohno wasn't even sure he had reached the B final. He was late coming toward the track, and the volunteers had closed the gate. He ended up jumping over the wall in order to compete.

For Ohno, it left you with this thought: There are better ways to start the Olympics.

For the sport, it left you with this: Hmm. Short-track hurdles. Wouldn't that be a hoot?

[Last modified February 13, 2006, 00:45:19]