Apolo wins his sixth Olympic medal; Celski, his first

February 13, 2010—Vancouver, British Columbia

Apolo Anton Ohno (Seattle, WA) became the most decorated male in U.S. Winter Olympic history by winning a silver medal in the Men’s 1500m event, bringing his total Olympic medal count to six. The short track speedskater breezed through his first two races, landing in the A final with teammate J.R. Celski (Federal Way, WA).

Battling against three Korean and two Chinese skaters, Ohno crossed the finish line in second place, with Celski close behind him in third. Two Korean skaters fell coming around the final turn allowing Ohno and Celski to advance easily to the podium. Korea’s Lee Jung-Su won the gold medal with a fast time of 2:17.611.

“I feel good,” Ohno said. “My mind’s in a good place. I was just happy to make the final. It feels good to have my mojo back.”

This was Celski’s debut Olympic event and his first international competition since a devastating injury during the Olympic Trials in September. “I can’t explain what happened. It was just a blur to me,” Celski said. “It’s very cool. It will go down in history—at least in my book.”

Jordan Malone (Denton, TX) also made his first Olympic appearance competing in the 1500m event, but was disqualified for impeding during the quarterfinal heats.

U.S. Champion Katherine Reutter (Champaign, IL) won her 500m qualifying heat and Alyson Dudek (Hales Corners, WI) took second during her 500m race, so both ladies advanced to the quarterfinals. Both Reutter and Dudek are new to the Olympic experience but believe this was a good start for their races. “I think we’ve been training super hard,” Reutter said. “It’s paid off. ‘Welcome to the Olympics.’ That’s what was going through my mind.”

The U.S. ladies also advanced in the 3000m Relay after finishing in second place behind the Korean team. Reutter and Dudek were joined by Kimberly Derrick (Memphis, TN) and Lana Gehring (Glenview, IL) to beat out teams from the Netherlands and Italy. China’s ladies set a new Olympic record for the relay with a time of 4:08.797. Team USA ladies will compete in the relay finals on February 24 against teams from China, Korea and Canada.

Short track speedskating events continue on Wednesday, Feb. 17 at the Pacific Coliseum with the completion of the Ladies 500m, the Men’s 1000m heats and the Men’s 5000m Relay semifinals.