Productive weekend for JR Celski in ISU Short Track Worlds

MEN’s 1500 m March 19, 2010
Prelim Rounds Heat 3: (1st) 2:24.373
Quarterfinals Heat 1 (1st) 2:21.379
Semifinals Heat 3 (1st) 2:16.489
Final Results
1 KWAK Yoon-Gy KOR 2:21.387
2 SUNG Si-Bak KOR 2:16.495
3 LEE Ho-Suk KOR 2:16.649
4 CELSKI J.R. USA 4 1 – 1 2:16.489
5 FAUCONNET T FRA 2:16.458
6 JAYNER Travis USA 2:18.694

500 m
9 CELSKI J.R. USA 42.271
from- usspeedskating.com: Celski, the lone US skater in the semifinals, was disqualified for impeding against Francois-Lois Tremblay of Canada while making an inside pass.

1000 m
1 LEE Ho-Suk KOR 1:26.675
2 KWAK Yoon-Gy KOR 1:27.958
3 CELSKI J.R. USA 1:27.515

5000 m Relay
1 KOREA KOR 6:44.821
2 UNITED STATES USA 6:46.205
3 GERMANY GER 6:48.288

3000 m Super Final
**unofficial results
1 LEE Ho-Suk KOR
2 KWAK Yoon-Gy KOR
3 CELSKI J.R. USA
4 HAMELIN Charles CAN
5 LIANG Wenhao CHN

OFFICIAL WEBSITE: 2010 ISU World Short Track Championships, Sofia, Bulgaria

Celski’s first public appearance post Vancouver

King 5 News

It’s a whole new world for JR Celski.

The now Olympic Bronze Medalist made his first public appearance after the games, and was greeted by a line out the door of the Issaquah 24-Hour-Fitness. Celski signed autographs, and posed for pictures with his fans.

Celski won the bronze in two short track speedskating events in Vancouver: the 1500 meter, and 5000 meter team relay. He’s now getting the attention that comes with success.

“I was walking through a store the other day and a kid said there is JR Celski! I’d rather not get that recognition but that’s cool. I get to meet people and talk to people and inspire them, and that’s what I am in this sport for,” he said.

>>>WATCH VIDEO HERE>>>

For all Filipinos, an Olympian named Celski

By Emil Guillermo, Inquirer.net

…Celski is a 19-year-old Seattle-area kid from Federal Way, whose mother, Sue, is Filipino. Celski’s dad Robert is of Polish descent and was stationed in Monterey, California, for the Army. It’s where JR was born.

Talk about hybrid vigor, the Filipino Polish thing produced quite a longganisa.

And quite an Olympian.

When you catch Celski, it’s usually by accident because you are watching him in short-track speed skating. Frankly, for the casual fan, the only reason to watch short-track speed skating at these games is because of Apolo Anton Ohno.

But is Ohno Filipino? Oh, no. Part Asian yes, but not Filipino. We still cheer him because of his greatness. No one in US history has eight Winter Olympic medals.

Between Ohno, and the women’s champ Katherine Reutter, the short-track competition at the 2010 Winter Olympics were immensely watchable.

But the future is this kid Celski, who looks like Ohno’s cousin. Again, it’s that half-Asian thing.

Celski is good, but not “Ohno-good,” not yet.

But let’s not give him short shrift. Celski is well on his way having already distinguished himself with two gold, a silver, and two bronze medals at the World Short-track competition. He’s won silver at the US Nationals. The kid’s a winner.

Celski bags bronze

by Francis Santiago, Manila Bulletin

Filipino-American JR Celski bagged his second bronze medal in the Vancouver Winter Olympics after the United States finished third in the 5000m short-track speed skating relay Saturday at the penultimate day of the quadrennial event at the Pacific Coliseum.

The 19-year-old Celski, whose mother is a full blooded Filipina who hails from Isabela, joined Simon Cho, Travis Jayner and Apolo Anto Ohno in the crack US Team which clocked 6:44.498 to finish third in the racing event topped by Canada (6:44.224) followed by Korea (6:44.446)…..

Fighting out of Federal Way, Washington, Celski, who boasts of three stars and a sun (resembling the Philippine flag) nearly captured his second medal last time when he reached the semifinal of the 1,000m event, but was disqualified when he accidentally bumped off a Canadian rival in the final lap.

The 5-foot-8 Celski, a self-confessed Manny Pacquiao fan said he’s proud to have a Filipino blood in him, saying: “I hope the Filipino community knows that I’m also carrying them in the Winter stage.”

>>>READ COMPLETE ARTICLE>>>

2010 Olympics Short Track Men 1500m Final

http://www.bonttv.com/video/505/2010-Olympics-Short-Track-Men-1500m-Final

Philippine born dance pair represented Germany

Philippine born Christina Beier and brother William completed their free dance with a score of 72.91 placing them in 18th. They are four-time German national champions. Results here.

About Christina and William

Christina and William Beier are brother and sister. Their mother is from the Philippines, their father is German. They moved to Germany when they were 6 and 7 years old respectively. They had relatives who worked at the ice rink in Chemnitz and started to skate just for fun. When they were 12 and 13 years old, they left their family in Chemnitz and moved to Dortmund as they had much better practice conditions for ice dancing there. Beier/Beier switched coaches and moved to Oberstdorf in January 2004. They missed the whole season 2006/2007 as Christina was suffering from an inflammation in her foot.

LINKS: Wikipedia Biography

JR’s Tattoo creates a buzz around the world

VIDEO: NBC Olympics WEBSITE: Official FACEBOOK: Unofficial Fan Page

After learning his disqualification during a tough semifinal race, JR Celski, unintentionally removed his shirt in front of tv camera exposing his giant tattoo seen by millions worldwide.

J.R. Celski’s tattoo is a “three stars and a sun” Philippine flag and “a coat of arm of Poland”  as shown on TV when the athlete removed his t-shirt. This is symbolic of his Filipino-Polish ancestry and created quite a buzz across the globe.

Related Articles: UK Todays News, Breaking Global News, Gather Sports, Buzzy Bloggers, Tech Banyan,

Celski bumped caused him disqualification

by Marv Duron, International Sports Examiner

…In the final lap, Celski was just about tied for second place and poised to reach the medal event finals for the Men’s 1500m in short track speed skating.

Francois Hamelin of Canada, bumped Celski from behind which caused a split-second reaction from the Filipino American and Federal Way, Washington native.

Television replays also appeared to show that the Canadian briefly held Celski which caused him to lose his position in the race.

After the steep turn, Celski fell out of position and the rest of the speed skaters advanced to the medal event finale.  It was the final lap and simply too late to catch up.

Judges ruled that Celski knocked the Canadian Hamelin to the ground, which earned the former a disqualification.  Additionally, it was ruled that Celski was not in qualifying position when the bump took place, albeit he was milli-seconds away from such a qualifying position (second place).

JR Celski advances to 1000 qf, Team finals

J.R. Celski advanced to the quarterfinals in the men’s 1,000-meter short-track speedskating event, which will be held on Saturday. Celski was second in his heat with a 1:25.113. Si-Bak Sung of Aouth Korea posted the fastest time in qualifying with an Olympic record 1:24.245.

The men’s team of Celski, Jayner, Ohno and Simon Cho advanced to the finals in the 5,000-meter relay, which will be held Feb. 26.

JR Celski proud to be Pinoy

by Francis Santiago, Manila Bulletin

John Robert Celski, the Filipino-American speed skater who won a bronze medal in the Vancouver Winter Olympics last Sunday, is a die-hard Manny Pacquiao fan.

So like Pacquiao in boxing, Celski also dreams of lording his sport someday.

“I idolize Manny Pacquiao, and look up to him very much. I try to take the attitude he brings to the ring, onto the ice,” Celski, 19, said in an e-mail interview. “He (Pacquiao) is very humble and always smiling and proud of what he represents. This is what I try to do as well.”

Celski, youngest of three sons of a full-blooded Filipina who hails from Isabela, finished third in the 1,500-meter short-track speed skating event despite being a first-timer in the Games.

Although he’s officially carrying the US flag, Celski believes he’s also representing the Philippines, a tropical country with no snow, in the quadrennial event.

“I hope that the Filipino community knows that I am very proud to represent them on the winter stage this year, and the years to come,” said Celski, who is based in Federal Way, Washington.

>>>READ COMPLETE ARTICLE>>>

Related Article: Inspirational Olympian,

Figure Skating: Evora excels in Vancouver

Photo by Getty Images

Amanda Evora, a Filipino-American woman, together with partner Mark Ladwig, competed in the figure skating pairs competition in the 2010 Vancouver Olympics.

They didn’t win a medal but came up with personal bests in their first ever Olympic Games.

The 25-year-old Filipina who trains in Florida and Ladwig posted a personal best score during the competition.

Their score of 114.06 points, based on difficulty of elements and grades of execution, was their best of the season by more than 15 points. Combined with their personal best in the short program Sunday, their total score of 171.92 points put them in 10th place.

The gold medal went to Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo of China, who ended a string of dominance by Soviet and Russian skaters dating back to the 1960s. Pang Qing and Tong Jian of China won the silver and Aliona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy of Germany the bronze.

>>>READ FULL ARTICLE>>>

Fil-Am skater bags bronze in Vancouver

by Francis Santiago, Manila Bulletin

John Robert Celski gave the Philippines another reason to cheer about when he won the bronze medal in the 1,500-meter short-track speed skating event of the Vancouver Winter Olympics last Sunday.

While he’s representing the United States in the event, Celski would like to spread the word that he’s proud to have a Filipino blood.

“I would love for people to know that I am Filipino. I am very proud to be Filipino. My mother is full blooded Filipino which makes me half,” Celski said in an e-mail interview last month. “Ever since I was a little kid I have been around the Filipino culture as most of my friends are Filipinos.”

The gutsy skater from Federal Way, Washington is the youngest of the three sons of a full-blooded Filipina who hails from Isabela.

Celski, who boasts of a Philippine flag tattoo on his chest, said he’s great fan of Pinoy dishes like sinigang, lechon, and Longganisa, and of course, pancit, lumpia, and adobo.

>>>COMPLETE ARTICLE HERE>>>

Related Articles: Good News Pilipinas, Team Filipinas, Bakit Why

Evora and Ladwig set personal best

Amanda Evora and Mark Ladwig scored 57.86 points, easily surpassing their personal best 51.48 from 2008 Cup of China, to place 10th, the highest among American pairs. “All week, I’ve really felt like Mark and I really deserve to be here,” Evora said after the performance.

The judges felt the same way. All eight required elements in their performance to the “Portuguese Love Theme” received a positive grade of execution, helping them to an element score of 33.10 and program components mark of 24.76.

Evora and Ladwig started their program with a triple twist then landed side-by-side triple toes and the throw triple loop, the highest scoring element of their performance. They were nearly flawless in their Level 3 change foot combination spin, their Level 2 circular step sequence and their group 4 lift, which also rated Level 4. Their program concluded with a death spiral and a combination spin.

Links: Official Website,

Meet J.R. Celski: A Filipino-American with the Heart of a Lion

by Jo-Ryan Salazar, Bleacher Report

One of the highlights for the USA wasn’t just Apolo Anton Ohno making history with his silver in the 1,500 meters in short track or the combo of Hannah Kearney putting an America sandwich on Canada’s Jennifer Heil in the women’s moguls.

For me, the biggest highlight of Day 2 was the heroics of J.R. Celski, a young Filipino-American. Now the reason why he get a fist pump to the sky from me is not because he shares similar initials (woot woot), but the fact that he not only won a bronze medal, but he literally went through the dark valley to earn his medal.

See, what people must realize about the best Olympians is that they need not win gold to be the best. They have to have the heart of a lion. J.R. Celski has the heart of a lion on his way to earning a bronze in Vancouver.

>>>COMPLETE ARTICLE HERE>>>

Bronze for JR Celski

In his first competition after a career treatening injury which required 60 stitches, 19 year old RJ Celski earned a bronze medal in the 1500 meter men’s short track speed skating. Few months before the the Olympic, JR took a hard fall and slid into the padding lodging skate blade to his left thigh.

Last night was the first competition for Celski since the gruesome injury, which required 60 sutures for surgeons to stitch his quad muscle back together. That he not only competed but won a bronze medal just five months later speaks to the incredible work he’s put in over that time.

More on JR Celski: CNN, OC Register, NY Times, Examiner.com

Official Website

Ohno will face challenge from fellow American Celski

Washington Post

Apolo Anton Ohno will be looking for gold in an event that has brought him a mix of success, controversy, stumbles and, perhaps, gray hair, at the Olympic Games….

This year he could face a different challenge: a young American rival.

At last year’s world championships in Vienna, a pair of South Koreans took gold and silver in the 1,500 meters, and up-and-coming U.S. star J.R. Celski, 19, claimed bronze — one of four individual medals he won at the championships. Ohno finished fourth.

Celski also topped Ohno in the first of two 1,500 races at the Olympic trials in September. But Celski will be coming back from surgery after a skate blade sliced his thigh at the end of the trials.

–

Official website; follow JR on twitter.

U.S. pairs skaters’ date with destiny?

by Martin Rogers, Yahoo Sports

Jeremy Barrett has dated Amanda Evora for the past five years, yet he’s happy to let her spend Valentine’s Day evening in the arms of another man. There’ll be soft music, close contact and the potential for jealousy – and what’s more the whole world will get to see it.

Welcome to the complicated lives of the United States pairs figure skating team, where the term “partner” means one thing on the ice and a totally different one away from it.

Barrett and Evora have made their home together in Bradenton, Fla., and will make their first appearance at the Winter Olympics on Feb. 14 – that love-struck date on the calendar where Cupid fires off his indiscriminate arrows. And they’ll be doing it separately.

Photo by Getty Images

>>>READ ARTICLE HERE>>>

Figure Skating: Meet Evora and Ludwig

from Figure Skaters Online

Amanda Evora and Mark Ladwig are the 2010 U.S. Championship silver medalists in pair skating. In Spokane, Wash., last month, the team handed in the best performance of their career, pulling up from third place after the short program.

…Amanda Evora’s parents, who are both from the Philippines but now hold U.S. citizenship, made sure to arrive in New York before Evora was born so she would be a U.S. citizen. Evora’s father, Vicente “Boy” Evora, is originally from Calapan, Oriental Mindoro.

>>>READ PROFILE HERE>>>

Snowboard: Serina quietly pursuing history

Snowboarder hopes to become first female Winter Olympic athlete from Philippines.

by Alan Abrahamson, NBCOlympics.com

Eden Serina is not going to win a medal at the Vancouver Winter Games. She might not even make the 2010 Olympics. She has to qualify, and that’s no sure thing.

But if she does, she would walk in to the Opening Ceremony Feb. 12 as the first female athlete from the Philippines in the Winter Games – ever. A snowboarder, from a nation in the tropics. Eden Serina (second from left) is hoping to become the first female athlete from the Philippines to compete at the Olympic Winter Games.

Eden Serina (second from left) is hoping to become the first female athlete from the Philippines to compete at the Olympic Winter Games.

“The dream of that inspires me,” she says. “I don’t know if I can even describe it. Just pure elation. All the years of hard work, sacrifice, support, family, friends, sponsors – all culminating in that one point in time … I think it would be like walking on air. I don’t know if there is a greater joy I could experience in my life.”

>>>READ COMPLETE ARTICLE>>>

Speedskating: Celski ready to complete comeback in Vancouver

By Meri-Jo Borzilleri,  NBCOlympics.com

Back at top speed, J.R. Celski is leaning into curves again on the short track speed skating oval during the final weeks of training for the 2010 Olympics.

He is no longer jittery skating in a pack. His body is strong, just like before the crash that left his right thigh sliced to the bone nearly five months ago.

Celski, in a Team USA blue speed suit, looks as if he’s never left. He’s skating as fast as before — just not as fearlessly.

“It’s a little iffy, I can say I’m a little scared of racing,” he said during a break between two-a-day training sessions three weeks before the Olympics open. “It brings back memories, of course. But it’s nothing I can’t handle.”

>>>READ COMPLETE ARTICLE>>>

JR Celski is Unstoppable

By Sarina Morales, Nike Field Reporter

There is something special about this speed skater. Every barrier he has faced seems to be the driving force for him to work harder. His most recent obstacle was actually his first serious injury as a speed skater. Having your own ice skate cut a gash into your own leg is nothing to brush off. However, now three months since the accident, he has even impressed me with his progression. Oh, have no doubt: You will see J.R. Celski compete in the 2010 winter games!

>>>>COMPLETE ARTICLE HERE:  Unstoppable.>>>

Kenneth made it in France

from Kenneth Carson’s Blog, Philippine Snowboard Team

I got a chance to meet Team Japan tonight and was able to communicate with them much easier than anyone else in the past two days (THANK YOU Sanchez-Sensei and Masuyama-Sensei). Judging by the point numbers on the roster, there are some killer racers here. At least a quarter of the racers are well beyond the 50pt. minimum for World Cup entry. None of that is in my head, I know what I’m here for, and I want to take it. A very good friend reminded me that when it comes time to step in the gates, the guys next to you are just as nerve-racked as you are. When I keep that mindset locked in, I can look down my race line and everything else disappears…

Tomorrow is our official Inspection / Practice day. We aren’t allowed on the course until 230pm, with inspections first followed by an hour of full-speed practice. Tonight, my little seafood couscous dinner will be followed by a huge helping of race waxing, edge tuning / sharpening, and sleep.  >>>READ HIS BLOG HERE>>>

Philippine winter games bet falls short

By Francis Santiago, Manila Bulletin

Edin Serina started the race strong but a crucial error in the homestretch blew her chances away and finished only 47th overall under extreme conditions in Kreischberg, Austria, site of the latest event for those not qualified yet for the Winter Olympics set next month in Vancouver, Canada.

“It’s great to have the Philippine press interested in my story. Unfortunately, I did not fare well today. A big mistake at the bottom of the course cost me a lot of time and speed,” the Filipino-American Serina, who is bidding to break the country’s 20-year hiatus in the world’s biggest winter sporting event  >>>READ COMPLETE STORY>>>

Fil-Am Snowboarder Kenenth Carson ready for 1st FIS competition

From Kenneth Carson’s Blog

Photo by KCRA

I’m going into next week with VERY mixed feelings. It’s my first time traveling overseas. It’s my first time attempting to take on an international field of competitors. I’m traveling alone. I’ve learned about 17 French words. What’s really in store out there?

With only a day left before I leave, I also note the brighter side. I may be traveling alone, but I’ve got all of my reservations laid out and printed. The mountain in France is at an equivalent elevation to our mountains here in Tahoe. I’m READY. My new board is READY. My mind is READY. The European teams want these points, but I want them more. The Philippines team has been working hard all over the globe to make this year historical, and it’s my time to contribute.  >>>READ KENNETH CARSON’S BLOG>>>

Fil-Am lass eyes Winter Olympics

by Francis Gerald Santiago (Manila Bulletin)

The snowboarding daredevil strongly believes she can become the first female athlete to represent the Philippines in quadrennial Games set February 12 to 28 in Vancouver, Canada.

“It is a challenging goal but one that I believe I can do. It’s a task that I would love to achieve to bring glory to the Philippines,” the 34-year-old Filipino-American said in an E-mail interview with this writer.

Serina was born to Filipino parents in West Virginia but lived for a few years in the Philippines.

For the past nine years, the New York University graduate has been the team captain of the Philippine Snowboarding team and the only female representative of the country in the Parallel Giant Slalom event of the different tourneys around the world. >>>READ STORY HERE>>>