Wipeout!
February 17, 2002
BY JAY MARIOTTI SUN-TIMES COLUMNIST
SALT LAKE CITY--Another night, another ice flap, another round of boos in the arena. Only this time, your loser was the American cover boy, Apolo Ohno, whose Olympic debut ended with a bump and grind in the night, followed by a 15-yard butt slide over the finish line for the strangest, wettest, wildest silver-medal effort you'll ever see.
Nothing can happen cleanly at the Wacky Winter Games. The controversy bug even sticks to Ohno, whose goal of four golds evaporated in the final lap of the 1,000-meter competition in short-track speedskating. Looking like a champion, Ohno got caught in a chain-reaction, multi-skater collision as he elbowed and tangled with China's Li Jiajun, who was pinching in and jostling as they raced into the final corner. Next thing you knew, Ohno was facing his own little plot twist in the Salt Lake Ice Center, where the screams of 15,000 fans turned to shrieks of confusion.
Paging Jacques Rogge. Should we give them all gold medals?
The Kennedy Expressway should have fender-benders like this. First, the Chinese skater fell into the back of Ohno's legs. Then you had one of Ohno's arch-rival Koreans, Ahn Hyun-soo, stumbling and falling in front of Ohno's path--purposely, I'd say--and tackling him in a way that would make football coaches proud. With four of the five skaters sprawled on the ice surface, including Canada's Mathieu Turcotte, Ohno scrambled to his feet and still tried to make it to the finish line first. But Australian Steven Bradbury, strategically lagging far behind the pack, merrily maneuvered through the wreckage and won the gold in a slow 1:29.109.
Welcome to demolition derby on ice, which would be a hoot if Ohno didn't enter the interview room Saturday night with six stitches in his left thigh. He said he expects to be healthy by his next event Wednesday. Until then, we'll be seeing replays of his slip-slide forward, like a kid learning to skate, literally skidding over the line to finish second in 1:30.160. Li, the Chinese skater, was disqualified by officials. And suddenly, the Salt Lake Games had yet another conversation piece, with a common headline in U.S. newspapers today: ''OH-NO!''
The first jingoistic instinct, I'm sure, is to blame the Chinese and Korean skaters. Bradbury, who had the best view of the dustup, refused to blame anyone. Ohno initiated at least some of the contact, leading to a tumble that caused a large gash on the inner thigh of his left leg. Asked if he was to blame, he grinned.
''No, not at all. I was in front,'' Ohno said. ''When someone falls in front of you and falls into you, there's nothing you can do. I have to look at the tape.''
Li wasn't blaming Ohno, the sport's superstar. ''I felt high pressure at the last turn and my hand got tangled a bit with Apolo Ohno,'' he said. ''It's a game of suspense. Sometimes, luck is more important.''
Ohno wasn't upset as much as relieved to have a medal, saying he plans to compete in his three remaining Olympic events. Though he was pushed into the arena in a wheelchair, you couldn't tell he was hurt when he jumped up and down in front of a raucous crowd.
''My performance was one of the best of my life,'' he said. ''I skated exactly how I wanted. Unfortunately, I got taken out in the last corner. But this is short track. This is the sport I live for, and sometimes, things get out of control. I got a silver medal, so I can't complain. After that, I'm just happy to come out with any medal.''
It is a dangerous sport, Ohno emphasized. ''I'm just lucky the injury wasn't more serious than it was,'' he said. Those who've never seen short track should think NASCAR on skates, with racers flying in tight packs around corners at speeds nearing 40 mph. Rules call for no blocking or body contact, but it still takes tremendous skill, strength and agility not to wipe out. That's why Ohno wasn't buying into the hype and downplaying comparisons to long-form speedskater Eric Heiden, the only Olympian ever to win as many as five golds in a single Games. He knows his sport leaves no room for error. One slip on a hairpin turn, one freak collision, and first place can become a butt slide.
''It's impossible. It's short track,'' Ohno said of a four-gold harvest. ''Anything can happen. I've got to go through prelims, heats, semis, quarters, before you even get to the final. If I make one mistake or if I'm a hundredth of a second too late in a pass, then the race is over. So you definitely have to have the golden horseshoe if you're going to win four.''
Bradbury accepted the gold, Australia's first ever in the Winter Olympics. But his reaction was sheepish at best. ''It's good, but it doesn't make you feel right, you know?'' he said. ''I consider myself the luckiest man. God smiles on you some day.''