Short Track
Francesco A. Armillotta
From Turin in Kolomna with only one thought: the Olympic qualification. After the busy weekend on the ice of the Palatazzoli friend, the skaters blues are ready to get on track in the Russian resort, located more than 1000 miles from where will be held the XXII edition of the Winter Games (February 7 to 23, 2014) .
Wednesday 13 November 2013 7 minutes reading time
In the women's field, it will repeat the excellent results of last weekend to secure the maximum of seats allowed. And with un'Arianna Fountain in great shape, you can really dream about. The excellent results obtained for the three individual distances (silver in the 500 meters, fifth in 1000, fourth in 1500) have overshadowed an interesting given lap. The arrow blonde Valtellina, in fact, managed to improve two national records that already belonged.
In the quarterfinals of the 1000 skated in 1'29 "990 on towing the Korean Shim Suk-Hee, improving 30'' 396 made October 18, 2008 in the stage of World Cup in Salt Lake City. Not satisfied, the Fountain has filed the record of the 1500s, this time in the semifinals with a remarkable 2'18 "789, to clear 2'19" 467 made on the fast ice in Calgary October 21, 2012. When you consider that in the 500, where the record does not show up for a little over two-tenths (43 "vs 43 398" 186), it can be said that the twenty-three Olympic bimedagliata is really on the right track. Also because the distance she likes most, has been shown to no longer having a reverence for His Majesty Wang Meng.
They smile even the excellent fourth place Martina Valcepina in the same race and the final B reached by Lucia Peretti in the 1500s. If you add Elena Viviani, leaving a marathon relay with two bronzes (Shanghai and Turin) and fourth place (Seoul) this season has already proven to be worth the top.
Major advances have arrived in the men's team. It would be easy to screw up and disunited after the injury to Nicola Rodigari. Instead, the first optimistic responses of physicians, which link it back already by the end of 2013 and the desire of the rest of the team of wanting to try at all costs, has pushed the blue relay to a remarkable achievement in Turin. The determination with which the quartet blue (Confortola, Dotti, Lobello, Viscardi) addressed the semi-final on Sunday was by applause. The postcard has been accomplished by the double overtake Lobello in the end, a bravura piece that finally ruled in favor of those who wanted to believe in his second Italian youth.
And even when the Hungarian Liu Shaolin lay cornering Tommaso Dotti, opening the doors of the de facto end to the blues, but at the same time depriving them of the ace Milan, the team sold. Indeed, even the newly entered Reggiani has made its contribution to reach that fourth place is worth gold in terms of Olympic qualification. Now we have to defend themselves from the assault of the national excluded from the circle of the best eight (with Korea, the UK and France ready to growl) to secure a ticket to Sochi. Are intact also the possibility to qualify three places for 1500 and 1000, while the question becomes more complex for the 500, where less than sensational shocks, Italy will have to settle for two, owing to the misfortune of ko Rodigari who has slid to the bottom of the standings.
Of course, Italy will test them all and is the proof of the flash recovery Dotti. Despite the bad cut a few days ago in the semifinals of the relay, the brave Milan feels ready and is ready to reindossare shoes. The engineers have rewarded his recklessness and have been deployed for 1000 and 1500. Knowing him, spit blood rather than yield an inch to the opponents.
Tomorrow is expected the first day of competition with the qualifications of the 1,500 and 500 meters. The two technicians Eric Bédard and Kenan Gouadec have chosen Dotti, Lobello and Confortola for the distance (as well as for pre-preliminaries of the 1000 Friday), while in the 500 Viscardi take the place of Dotti. Among the women, all the same in Turin: Fountain and Valcepina engaged on the three distances, 500 and 1000 for Viviani and 1500 for the Peretti. The finals, scheduled for Saturday and Sunday, will be visible through the official channel of the ISU (http://livemanager.eurovision.edgesuite.net/isu/site/index.html), with a chance to see even on smartphones and Live + tablet thanks to the app.
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