CTVOlympics.ca was on site at the World Long Track Speed Skating Championships in Richmond, B.C.  

Don't drink the water and Sunday's events

March 15, 12:15 PST

The oval here is on its way to qualifying for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Silver, a certification that recognizes environmentally sustainable buildings.

One of the many features of the building includes a roof that recycles rainwater as toilet water and landscape irrigation. Great move, really, except it leads to the most bizarre sign I've ever seen above a urinal in a men's washroom:

"Non potable water Do not drink."

Thanks for the friendly reminder. Now on to the events Sunday.

Heading into the last day of competition, Canada has the most medals here.

First off today are the ladies' and men's 500, the only races that are run twice, whose winners will have the fastest combined time.

In the fastest World Championship event, Canada will have a distant shot in the absence of Jeremy Wotherspoon (broken arm). Racing in the women's event are Kim Weger, Tamara Oudenaarden and Shannon Rempel. The Canadian men are Vincent Labrie, Muncef Ouardi and Jamie Gregg.

Germany's Jenny Wolf is the heavy favourite in the ladies' 500. She won 10 of the 13 races this year and is looking to win her third consecutive World title. Her major competition will be China's Wang Beixing, who's coached by former Canadian speed skater Kevin Crockett, who stirred the pot earlier this week by criticizing Speed Skating Canada for making it difficult for international athletes to gain entry to the Richmond Oval.

In the men's event, China's Yu Fengtong has been the most consistent, but as Wotherspoon said earlier this week, anyone who has won a World Cup medal in the event this year - Keiichiro Nagashima of Japan, Tucker Fredricks of the U.S., Lee Kyou-Hyuk of South Korea and Joji Kato of Japan - has a chance.

The last two events will be the team pursuit - three skaters from each country take turns drafting behind each other and the team with the fastest time wins. (In Olympic competition, this race is run with an elimination round: the winner of the two teams in a pair facing off against each other moves on, the loser is eliminated.)

In the ladies' event Canada's team of Kristina Groves, Christine Nesbitt and Britanny Schussler will be battling for a podium spot against the Dutch and Germans. The men's team of Denny and Jay Morrison and Lucas Makowsky also have a shot at a medal but they will be in tough against the Dutch, Americans, Germans and Italians.  

Support for Right to Play encourages Groves and Hughes

March 14, 9:03 PST 

Speedskaters Clara Hughes and Kristina Groves say they are encouraged by growing support around Vancouver for the charity Right to Play, even if the organization has been shut out of the 2010 Olympics.

Right to Play, an athlete-driven charity that helps get disadvantaged children get into sports, was told a few months ago by the Vancouver Olympic Games Organizaing Committee that it would not be able to set up an information booth at the athlete's village due to a sponsorship conflict.

Soon after, the International Olympic Comission told Right to Play's president Johann Koss, a former Olympic champion speedskater, that Right to Play would also not be permitted in London in 2012 and in Sochi, Russia, in 2014.

Since Right to Play is sponsored by Mitsubishi, having an official presence at the Games would conflict with General Motors, one of the biggest sponsors of the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. The ban sparked about 90 high-profile Canadian Olympians to sign a petition last month protesting the move. In addition to Hughes and Groves, the list also included Jennifer Heil, Beckie Scott and Hayley Wickenheiser.

Wearing a Right to Play toque after winning a silver medal in the 5000m event at the World Single Distances Speed Skating Championships in Richmnond, B.C. Saturday, Hughes said there is support for the charity to have a non-Olympic presence around town during the Games.

"I actually met with Johann Koss two days ago," Hughes said. "He's very, very excited about all the things that are happening around the Olympics, in Vancouver, the city [and] the support Right to Play is getting."

"The opportunities are unlike any other Olympics, so Right to Play is being embraced by the city of Vancouver and by Canadian companies," Hughes said. "I was definitely proud to be on that podium with Right to Play on my toque today."

Groves also wore the Right to Play logo on her togue, and said earlier in the week she made the headgear herself. "For me any opportunity I have to help promote Right to Play, especially in Canada, is one that I will take wholeheartedly," she said. "So I try to put our logo anywhere I can to try to get them exposure."

-- Grant Robertson, The Globe and Mail

A gracious move and Saturday's events

March 14, 11:50 a.m. PST

Classy move by Ottawa's Kristina Groves Friday.

After posting the fastest time by almost a second in the women's 1500m - and raising crowd noise to its highest point so far at the Richmond Oval - the speed skater was disqualified for knocking one of the orange lane pucks with her skate.

Not only did she come down to the mixed zone to take reporters' questions, but when a meet official attempted to stop the interview after about 90 seconds, she politely said, "No, no, it's okay. I've got a few more minutes."

Imagine a professional athlete with a $951-milllion contract doing something like after having a championship-winning goal called back because of a high-sticking call?

Neither can I.

But let's not forget Groves is also a fierce competitor and will be looking for a little more than redemption in Saturday's 1000m race. She and teammate Christine Nesbitt have the best shot here but they will once again be up against defending champion Anni Friesinger of Germany, who won the last two World Cup events in this race and Friday's 1500m.

Later Saturday, we'll see the two longest races of the competition, the men's 10,000m and the ladies' 5000m (where Groves will also be skating).

In the men's race, Dutch skater Sven Kramer will try to win his third consecutive World title in the event. Great stat about this race: a man in orange has won this leg burner every single year in the 13-year history of the World Single Distance Championships.

I'd say they're the only ones crazy enough to skate around a circle for 10 kilometres and 13 minutes, but we've got a full entry list in this one, including Canada's Lukas Makowsky.

The final event will be the ladies' 5000m, where Clara Hughes and Groves (2008 silver and bronze medallists, respectively) will be up against the Czech Republic's Martina Sablikova. The Czech skater is also looking to clinch her third consecutive title in the event but is recovering from illness.
On Thursday, she lost the gold medal in the 3000m to Dutch skater Renate Groenewold, so this will get interesting.

The oval is supposed to be sold out for the rest of the weekend, and the Dutch are starting to file in.  

Canada's new strategy at the Oval 

March 13, 10:04 a.m. PST 

Beware international competitors: the Canadians at the Richmond Olympic Oval have a new strategy, and it's doesn't involve limiting your practice time or anything of the sort.

It's called the Bryan Adams factor.

Since Canada's Olympic Broadcast Media Consortium team arrived here on the second day of competition, the overhead speakers have been spinning non-stop the tunes of the man who called North Van home when he was a kiddie.

Thus far we've heard Adams' croon "Summer of '69," "Love Cuts Like a Knife" and "I Need Somebody."

"Only in this country is ‘Straight from the Heart' warm-up music," says The Globe's Grant Robertson, who did some fine reporting on Thursday's events.

Everything we do, we do it for you baby.

Watch out for the dancing polar bear 

March 12, 11:57 PST

Oh to be a fly on the bench beside defending champ Denny Morrison of Fort St. John and coach Marcel Lacroix, who seemed to be discussing strategy for today's race. Lacroix said Wednesday how it's often one or two minor technique mistakes that determines whether the top athletes will be walking out of here today with a medal.

We're about 30 minutes away from the first competition at the World Championships, the men's 1500m, and there's this crazy dancing polar bear bopping to the music beats around the infield of the track. The mascot has this swagger that's part laid back, part I'm-going-to-fall-over-any-minute-now.

The Globe and Mail's Grant Robertson picked up on this neat detail about how Morrison prepares for every race: he unties his skates 10 minutes before the gun goes off, then ties them back up with five minutes to go. He says that way he gets a little more blood flow to his feet because he ties his skates so tight. 

Here we go then.  

Draw me a winner

March 11, 10:35 PST

Two interesting items came out of Wednesday evening's draw for Thursday's events, the men's 1500m and ladies' 3000m.

Number one: We're going to see arguably the two best 3000m skaters in the ladies' competition battle head-to-head in the last pairing of the day.

That would long-distance specialist Martina Sablikova of the Czech Republic, the World Cup champion, and defending gold medallist, Kristina Groves of Ottawa.

Provided there are no wild upsets in the first 11 pairings, there's nothing better than having the gold medal come down to the last two racers.

Number two: Denny Morrison of Fort St. John will have to race against the clock (and Dutch wunderkind Sven Kramer) and then watch four other heavyweights - Norway's Havard Bokko v. American Trevor Marsicano and Italy's Enrico Fabris v. heavyweight Shani Davis - skate after him.

At last week's World Cup Final in Salt Lake City, Morrison was paired with teammate Lucas Makowsky in the sixth of nine A-Final draws then watched six other skaters try to beat his time.

He ended up in third, behind Davis - who beat Morrison's record en route to winning gold - and Marsicano. Might not be a bad thing, but I'd bet you a wobbly pop Morrison would get an extra bit of zip if he was paired with Davis.

As for the other Canadians in the men's 1500m, Steven Elm skates against Ivan Skobrev of Russia in the fifth of 12 draws, and Lucas Makowsky skates in the seventh draw.

In the ladies' 3000m, Brittany Schussler skates against Maren Haugli of Norway in the seventh of 12 draws, and Clara Hughes skates against Katarzyna Wojcicka of Poland in the eighth draw.

To decide the draw, competitors are grouped according to the points they have earned and the times they have achieved in World Cup races. From the groups, the athletes are randomly assigned to a pairing.

Find the complete starting list for Thursday's events here. And if you're interested in following along Thursday's action as it happens, be sure to go here.

Why Wotherspoon is 'happy to watch'

March 11, 1:24 p.m. PST 

He wore black to Wednesday's morning practice at the Richmond Oval, but his mood afterward wasn't funereal by any means.

And considering how Jeremy Wotherspoon's season has gone this year, that's a good thing.

The 500m world record holder won't be competing in his marquee event Sunday at the World Championships because of a broken arm that shattered in several pieces after a fall at the first World Cup race last November.

He decided in mid-January to allow his arm to heal properly and started focusing on next year, an Olympic year, when he will try to redeem his poor performances at the past two Olympics.

"When I first was out, I thought maybe I'd have a chance to race here, and if I really wanted to play it pretty risky, I probably could have been racing by now," a relaxed Wotherspoon told reporters.

"I don't know if that would have been good in the long run because I don't have full balance or strength in movement in my upper body so I might develop some bad habits and also risk really damaging my arm. So in that respect I'm happy to watch."

The 32-year-old from Red Deer, Alta., said he's still eyeing the end of April to be back in top form and ready when the 2009-10 season begins this May.

"I can do a full training load but it's a bit modified because of my arm. I'm doing more of my physiological-based training off ice, just so when I'm on ice I'm really focusing on skating well."

After a one-year hiatus during the 2006-07 season, Wotherspoon returned last year to win nine of 10 World Cup 500-metre races, his 13th overall world title and a gold medal at the World Single Distance Championships.

He has also won more World Cup speed skating races (67) than any man in history, but aside from winning a silver medal in Nagano in 1998, he hasn't had much success at the Olympics: he fell in 2002 and in 2006 finished ninth in the 500m and 11th in the 1000m.

In preparation for the Olympics and the speed skating team basing itself here starting in May, Wotherspoon said he'll be finding a place to live nearby so Richmond can feel more like home.

And he's found the past few days training with the rest of the sprinters - Jamie Gregg, Vincent Labrie and Muncef Ouardi - beneficial.

"It's good to get out here - even though they're different training because they're getting ready to race - it's still nice to be out and warming up together and out on the same ice together."

As for who's going to win gold in his absence: Wotherspoon said the 500m has been a little more wide open this time around. (China's Yu Fengtong won the overall World Cup title, about a 130 points ahead of Japan's Keiichiro Nagashima.)

"I think anyone who's won a race this year is a contender," he said.  

Time for a little perspective

March 11, 10:24 a.m. PST

Just a short post now and then it's off to speak with Canada's sprinters, including the injured Jeremy Wotherspoon.

Like it is with many sports, you don't really get a sense of how fast skaters are lapping a 400-metre track until you're actually there. The top athletes can reach speeds of about 60 kilometres per hour, and while that doesn't really seem that fast compared to, say, a Formula 1 car, it's pretty damn fast for a human.

And it's not so much that the athletes are madly hacking at the ice in an effort to increase speed; their strides are often long and graceful as they stay low and keep their blades in contact with the ice as long as possible.

Speaking of Wotherspoon and speed: after watching the skaters dash around the corners, you can see why the 500m record holders' arm shattered in five different places when he fell last November. Ouch.
 

'Hey Angela, can you give me a little more volume?'

March 10, 5:22 p.m. PST

Have to say, this oval is a thing of beauty. Still has the fresh paint smell, and the technicians are still setting up Internet connections around me, but its wood roof and location make it an attractive venue for this week's World Single Distances Speed Skating Championships and next February at the Olympics.

(Even better: on my walk over here from the hotel, a few skaters jogging cool-down laps ran past me like they were part of the neighbourhood jogging club.)

Now they're testing the sound system as training for the day winds down. Someone's cranking "Pork and Beans" by Weezer while simultaneously rehearsing the ol' "Welcome to the Richmond Oval," a few "check, checks" and, for good measure, "Hey Angela, can you give me a little more volume?"

Landed in the mid-afternoon today and didn't seem to have any trouble getting into the oval this afternoon, unlike some people.

Final note before grabbing some grub and trying to shake off the jet lag: As my plane took off from Toronto early this afternoon, a young kid behind me started wailing. It didn't last the whole flight, but it reminded me of Canadian cross-country skier Sara Renner travelling the entire World Cup season with her toddler Aria, who turned two in February. I've got a lot of respect for Renner, but how about a little cred for the rest of the team when Aria's having a rough day? Way to go team, for taking one for the team.