Team photo from the world cup in Salt Lake City. L-R: Harry Oosterhuis, Rogina De Jong, Daniel Grieg, Sophie Muir, Joshua Lose, Desly Hill, Marie Walth Perkins, Daniel Yeow

Beep – the alarm goes off, it is 6am. It is dark. A small group of skaters drag themselves out of bed, throw some warm clothes on and grab their skating bags. We walk outside and fumble around in the darkness trying to activate the lights on our bicycles. 40 minutes later we are warming up on the ice in Ijsbaan Twente, in Enschede, near the Dutch-German border – we are the only people there. It is still dark.

There is something unusual about this team. We train in the Netherlands, but we are not Dutch. We aren’t even European – we are Australians. In the summer of 2008, Desly Hill, former Australian inline skating coach and now Dutch national inline coach, hatched the most audacious of plans – an Australian long track speed skating team. There has never been one before, only lone individuals training under a coach. Two current Australian junior inliners and three seniors who had all but quit the sport got the call, and by October we were assembling in Enschede, taking the first tentative steps onto the ice, and on an incredible journey.

Fast forward to Vancouver, February 2010. Sophie Muir becomes the first Australian long track speed skater in 16 years. She is also the first female olympic long tracker from Australia… ever. She has only been ice skating for 16 months. Three other skaters on the team were at the top of the reserve list for the games, but barely missed out. It is scarcely believable that less than one year ago, only one of us had even qualified for a world cup race. It is even less believable that two years ago, only one of us had ever stepped on the ice wearing speed skates. To understand how this happened, we should first examine some of the characters in our extraordinary play.

7 years ago, Sophie Muir quit inline skating after winning a career total of seven world championship titles (six of them junior). She was backpacking around Europe in the summer and came across old friend Desly Hill in Gijon, Spain during the 2008 inline world championships. A few weeks later she was lacing up a pair of ice skates and had agreed to “give it a try” for a month to see if she liked it. One month became two months. Two months became three. Three months quickly became sixteen, and the transformation from beginner to olympian has been so rapid that she still gets quizzical looks from people when she mentions that she is a speed skater from Australia.

3 years ago Joshua Lose woke up in hospital after colliding with a car while riding his bicycle. He had severe head trauma and had lost his sense of smell. It would be several weeks before he could even hold a conversation and have any hope of remembering it later. He would eventually recover (but not his sense of smell) and move to holland to skate inline races at the suggestion of Desly, but be forced to quit due to foot problems which required expensive surgery. He was subsequently convinced to join our team on the ice and within two months had qualified for the world cups in the 5000m. He would go on to qualify for the Olympic games with an impressive time of 6:27, only to miss out due to a technicality in the ISU rules concerning Olympic qualification.

Desly Hill herself won seventeen medals at world championships in inline skating, four of which are gold – all of them in senior division. She has been coaching skaters very successfully ever since she quit competing and has also miraculously managed to find time to complete a masters degree in applied science majoring in elite sports coaching. She doesn’t like to lose, and she knows how to win. Even after her first olympics, and the incredible result made even moreso by the impossibly short lead-time, she’s hungry for more. Next time she wants a medal, and like any coach she is already making plans for bringing that objective to fruition.

Since starting the team, we’ve moved from Enschede to Heerenveen – the Mecca of speed skating. So much has happened in such a short time that it is easy to forget that 2 years ago there was no Australian long track team. Only in recent months has the administrative machinery of Australian sport realized that we exist and, thanks to our high media profile at the Vancouver Olympics, our prospects for future support from Australia look very good indeed. In a few days our very talented juniors, Brooke Lochland and Daniel Grieg, will be skating in the junior world championships in Moscow. Our team is here to stay, and while the cry of “the Australians are coming” may seem an amusing novelty now; I have little doubt that soon those words will strike fear into the hearts of our competitors.

But the team is much more than the sum of our parts. We’ve known each other through inline skating for years, and we feel like family. This amazing positive energy has allowed us to thrive in an environment that is a long way from, and very unlike our home (Australia is much warmer for instance). In our struggle we have helped encourage each other onto new heights never previously imaginable. Our camaraderie has been the envy of other skaters, many of whom have expressed interest in joining our ranks. Our assistant coach Rogina De Jong once accused us of “smiling too much”, which she mistook for us not taking things seriously. Like many athletes, we are obviously fiercely competitive. However, if the last 16 months have taught me anything, it is that in keeping with the Olympic spirit, it is important to not only play for keeps, but to also play for fun. The Australian team is determined to keep improving, just as we are committed to having fun. So watch out at the next big speed skating competition – the Australians are coming!

Neill Blomkamps District 9 is edgy and brilliant

The readers of my website who have been following for a long time will know that I have written the occasional film review. In truth, I review a shockingly small percentage of the films that I watch. Part of the reason for this is because I often can’t be bothered, but the main reason is because I don’t want this website to become a movie reviews site, or to become known as one. That may seem strange, but this website is very much my public “face” on the internet, and while I am very much into movies, I don’t strongly identify with being known primarily as a film critic. In truth, I’m not particularly enamored with being known as a speed skater, preferring “mathematician”, “scientist”, or even “photographer”. (I also answer to “shit stirrer”, and “THAT guy”)

Recently though, I’ve been getting back into the business of watching a lot of films. In my youth, I was a very frequent patron of a local video rental store and I have easily seen over a thousand films, most of them very bad. These days, with the advent of the internet and torrenting, it has become increasingly easy to watch whatever films one chooses. I also fly a lot and boredom on long-haul flights combined with increasingly convenient entertainment systems has further increased my movie-watching opportunities. On the subject of technological advances, it has become increasingly cheap and easy to get into the business of making films. That’s right, I’m getting into film making. It has long been on the cards for there to be a TV show or documentary made about the Australian speed skating team, and the extraordinary story of its formation and progress, now punctuated by Sophie Muir’s participation in the Olympic Winter Games.

One of my mini-philosophies on life is that, if you ever want to be good at anything, there are two things that you must do: (1) observe as many examples of people who are good at doing that thing, and their work, and (2) practice as much as possible. I think that is the key to my success at still photography, that I spend a lot of time just looking at really good photos and thinking about them, and also that I just get out there and take a lot of photos (in the last 12 months, I’ve taken well over 60,000 photos).

So, as part of my preparation for constructing the documentary on the Australian Speed Skating team, I’ve assigned myself several bits of homework. First of all, I’ve begun making short videos (the training video, Josh’s introduction, and Sophie’s Pep Talk are examples). Second of all, I’ve been watching all the nominees for this year’s academy award for best picture (and then some). I’m a very opinionated and snobbish movie watcher preferring Lawrence of Arabia over Titanic any day, and one should keep this in mind when reading my reviews about the films and my opinions on their chances at the best picture award. But first, the nominees:

Avatar

James Cameron’s 3D epic is not a bad film, not at all. It is noteworthy for many reasons: first and foremost, it is in 3D. Unlike other offerings requiring polarizing glasses, the 3D-ness of Avatar was very well done. It wasn’t gimmicky, and after you got over the initial excitement of watching a movie in 3D, you mostly forgot about it and it really just enhanced the medium rather than becoming a distraction. I imagine that the first moviegoers watching films in color back in the 30s had a similar experience. There is no doubt in my mind that this is the future of film although we may not see widespread adoption for quite some time. The commercial success of Avatar, however, is very encouraging as it was undoubtedly a very costly production, and almost certainly recouped its costs.

Once you strip away all the technical wizardry, what are you left with? A well-paced plot with a fairly simple story, wrapped in a handful of deeper questions about the value of modernity, technology, and spiritualism in a post-colonial world. Filled with clichés, it is almost as if Cameron is making a mockery of the genre. “Unobtainium” is the classic MacGuffin and it is only actually seen once in the film’s entire 162 minutes. Visually, many scenes are strongly reminiscent of older Hayao Miyazaki films. The floating islands remind me of Laputa, and the tree of souls and its surrounds look a lot like scenes from Princess Mononoke. The writing and dialogue in general is sound but nothing special. In fact, it reminds me of action films from 15-20 years ago which, back then, would have been considered very bland, but in the context of the current crop of nearly-unwatchable action films (like 2012) which take bad dialogue and writing to whole new levels, it is a breath of fresh air.

The characters are not particularly complex, nor do they really need to be. Stephen Lang’s performance as head of security is quite strong, but is borderline overkill, especially towards the end where the energy of the film escalates and his behavior becomes frenzied. Michelle Rodriguez also played her character well and kept it very “real” in a surreal environment. Sam Worthington’s accent changes annoyingly throughout the film, but his performance was otherwise decent. He certainly didn’t mess it up, but an actor with a greater screen presence may have been able to add more substantially to the role.

Certainly a contender for best cinematography, and best editing, it is not best picture material. It is almost a certainty for best special effects even though it is up against two very strong nominees in Star Trek, as well as District 9 (both blend their special effects into the film more subtly). The academy and I haven’t always agreed though, so Avatar could well win best picture, even though I don’t believe to be good enough to even deserve a nomination.

The Blind Side

This is good old fashioned storytelling in film form. This is a formulaic story about a disadvantaged and talented sporting youth being adopted by a wealthy family. It is based on a true story, and focuses on the human struggle above all else, and that is its strength. The struggle is a mighty one, and the story is real, giving the movie an emotional weight that many sporting movies find difficult to find.

Sandra Bullock plays a very good WASP and carries the narrative of the film. Having only seen one of the other nominees for best actress, it is difficult to say whether she will get the nod, but she takes on the role well and with a maturity that I didn’t expect.

As for best picture, I doubt it will win. There’s just not enough there. If Bullock had pulled out a performance on the level of Jack Nicholson’s in One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest, then that alone could have pushed this into the hunt. While engaging, it didn’t feel urgent enough. While touching, it just wasn’t moving enough. It is an outside, but highly unlikely contender.

District 9

Neill Blomkamp was discovered by Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson and he does a stellar job with this edgy and brilliant piece. Curiously, he did not receive a nomination for best director, but his is, in my opinion, the strongest contender for the title this year.

Based very loosely on the infamous district 13 in Johannesburg, this film is ostensibly about a large number of alien refugees who have to be dealt with by a sinister, privatized “Multinational United” corporation. It is a poignant statement about racism, segregation, and privatization. The best thing about it all, is that it doesn’t actually state any of these things to make that statement, instead, relying on the story to reveal those things to us. The character development and transformation of Wikus van der Merwe takes us through this gritty film at a brisk pace from the start all the way through to its conclusion.

It is similar in many ways to the 1988 film Alien Nation, although the situation of the aliens in this case is slightly different, as is the overall motivation behind them. Towards the end of the film, the tone changes slightly and it becomes more of an action shoot-out, which is disappointing. Nevertheless, it remains engaging and riveting throughout, and was a surprise commercial success despite no big-name actors and very little publicity. It is also up for the best screenplay based on previous material (a short film, directed by Blomkamp called Alive in Joburg) and definitely has the quality to win that as well. Being of the Sci-fi genre, it wouldn’t surprise me if it didn’t win best picture, but I certainly hope that it does.

An Education

Based on the Lynn Barber memoir, An Education is a coming of age story about Jenny, a young school girl from London’s outer suburbs with aspirations to go to Oxford, set sometime in the early 1960s. She begins seeing Dave, an older man who opens her eyes to the grown-up world. The story is simple enough, and the narrative follows the slow revelation of the life of David and his best friend Danny. Danny’s ditzy girlfriend is sometimes a little too ditzy, almost to the point of being jarring, on hearing that Jenny hadn’t done well on a latin test in school, she remarked “Someone told me that in about 50 years, no-one will speak Latin, probably… not even Latin people”.

Other than that constant comic relief threatening to burst the bubble of disbelief, the characters are textured and believable. Alfred Molina is great as Jenny’s father, and Emma Thompson makes a wonderful albeit brief appearance as the principal of Jenny’s school. Carey Mulligan gives a great performance as the main protagonist and the overall coming together of the elements of writing, editing, acting, and cinematography progresses very well and seamlessly throughout the film.

Though thought-provoking in light of what was to come later (e.g. feminism) and the issues that are dealt with, are carried well by the character development. We are encouraged to sympathize with Jenny, and we are drawn into the story which is engaging and well constructed… that is, until the last 10 minutes or so. For some inexplicable reason the whole film seems to fall apart just towards the end, and feels very weak towards the finish. It feels almost as if the film makers stopped trying, and that is a pity. Until then, An Education is a very strong contender for best picture, but due to the lack of punch in the ending, I’m fairly confident that it won’t emerge victorious. Mulligan though, is an outside chance for best actress.

Carey Mulligan in school uniform, getting wet at the side of a road with a cello

The Hurt Locker

As war movies go, this one’s pretty good. Following the story of several members of the bomb squad in Iraq, it captures the tension of the life and death situation well. It is technically a superb movie and could well pick up cinematography, editing, sound editing, and sound mixing, all of which it was nominated for. Unfortunately, as a complete film, I feel it falls short just slightly, but director Kathryn Bigelow (best known for Point Break, who is also nominated for best director along with ex-husband James Cameron) should be very happy with the film.

The film is an extended character study of Sgt William James, played by Jeremy Renner (and played very well I might add). A bomb specialist who seems to delight in the high-tension, high-risk situation of having to disarm the myriad of improvised explosives that the Iraqu insurgents dream up. The tension is very well-captured indeed, although I feel that the overall narrative lets the film down in that it is very episodic. The story moves from one set piece to another with only the faintest of segues. Each set piece is, individually at least, a wonderfully constructed piece of work (I especially liked the one where they get pinned down by a sniper for a whole afternoon), but there isn’t enough of a common thread to unite them all.

If, however, you can ignore the lack of narrative “glue” in this film, it is quite enjoyable and very well-paced. It is gritty in the way that the opening scene from Saving Private Ryan, or most of Black Hawk Down is, and cleverly avoids the realm of the political by focusing on an individual story through his tour of duty. I also have a great respect for the movie because it doesn’t fall into common hollywood traps like “you can’t kill a main character”. This film, just like the war, is indiscriminate about who gets knocked off. It may, despite its deficiencies, win best picture, though I doubt it. Much more likely to win the more technical awards, and is a decent chance for best director.

Inglorious Basterds

This is also one of my more liked films among the nominees. Quentin Tarantino directs a not-quite-historic period-ish film about Nazi-occupied France during the war. Clearly a talented director (and one of my favorites from a stylistic point of view) Tarantino’s films have always seemed a bit incomplete, or perhaps not-quite well-rounded would be a better way to describe what I’m thinking. In any case, Inglorious Basterds is his first very “Complete” film.

A story told quite simply, it is the characters and their development which drive the plot. Engaging dialogue, and charismatic characters keep the viewer glued to the screen throughout its 158 minutes. Unusual for a big hollywood film, a large portion of this dialogue takes place in French and German and is accompanied by subtitles. If you pay careful attention to the subtitles, you will notice that they occasionally (and intentionally) don’t translate what is being said, for example “oui” in French is sometimes subtitled “oui”. This, along with many other subtle signs throughout the film indicate Tarantino’s propensity to quietly mock the film making establishment.

Christopher Waltz, who playes Colonel Hans Landa (the “Jew Hunter”) gives an exceptional performance (speaking four languages quite fluently during the course of the film), and is rightly nominated for the award for best supporting actor. Overall, I wouldn’t mind seeing this one grab the best picture award, although I have a sneaking suspicion that it won’t. Still, a thoroughly enjoyable film, and enjoyable by a very wide demographic owing to the combination of Tarantino’s stylistic action sequences, as well as the more subtle in-jokes about the film industry peppered throughout.

Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire

A moving drama about the car-crash life of poverty and teen pregnancy in modern society (with a bit of incest and sexual abuse thrown in for good measure). Precious traces the story of Precious, an illiterate, overweight teen who is pregnant with her second child by her own father. You would struggle to start out worse in life, but this story is more about hope than anything else, and is ultimately uplifting.

Mo’Nique, who plays Precious’ abusive mother, gives an inspired performance and is my pick for best supporting actress. Even Mariah Carey makes an appearance, and thankfully actually does alright in the role of Ms Weiss (she also doesn’t look anything like she normally does, which helps the suspension of disbelief – and disbelief is what you invariably feel when you see her name on a cast list). In fact, the director, Lee Daniels, deserves a lot of credit for keeping this film together, because with subject material like this, it is all too easy to descend into melodrama and cliches. Instead, the film is gritty, real, and quite confronting.

The editing also deserves a mention, although at times it does seem to “try too hard” and overdo things just a little. Although the film doesn’t have any significant dead-moments where the momentum stops carrying, it also sometimes fails to connect with the audience. Perhaps it is my fault for not being culturally sensitive enough, although having occasionally lived briefly in Harlem (where the film is based) I doubt this is the case. A good movie, not a feel-good movie, and also not a best-picture.

A Serious Man

This was very enjoyable to watch. The Coen brothers do awkward, strange comedy very well, and this is no exception. A very cleverly-written piece about a man whose life is slowly disintegrating around him. The narrative flows almost like a piece of classical music, with central themes and recurring elements popping up and being repeated and reinforced as the story develops, giving the viewer a sense of an impending climax.

Larry Gopnik is a physics professor, and he leads a very happy life with a wife and two kids. He doesn’t really “do” anything, and that is one of the central recurring themes. There is also another interesting recurring theme concerning duality and uncertainty. There are many forks in the story which are almost-but-not-quite revealed (and some that are) but this lack of narrative closure doesn’t detract from the plot. In fact, it is used to enhance it.

A very clever film, and perhaps a little too clever for its own good. Many viewers will find the lack of closure in its various sub-plots confusing and ultimately unsatisfying (blame the current environment of brain-dead instant gratification movies like the unwatchable 2012). It should be a leading contender for the best screenplay written directly for screen category, but I doubt it will win best picture. I wouldn’t mind if it did though.

Up

Up is an unusual story about an explorer who sets out to accomplish the unfinished quest of traveling to “paradise falls” which, in many ways is an exact movie-universe replica of Angel Falls in Canaima, Venezuela (which I happen to have visited once). Of course, not everything goes according to plan, and a boy scout of sorts ends up an accidental passenger on this voyage, which takes place in a house suspended by thousands of balloons and propelled by sails (which doesn’t make sense if you know anything about sailing, but whatever).

Many have been raving about Up, calling it the best Pixar film ever. I disagree, feeling that honour still belongs to Wall-e (the first 50 minutes of it anyway). This film is worth it for the first 10 minutes and the last 5, for reasons that I won’t go into because it would spoil the film but anyone who has seen the film should know what I’m talking about. The rest of the film lacks the emotional gravitas that the bookends at the beginning and the end carry. I think part of the reason I didn’t enjoy the film as much as others is because I failed to connect or sympathize in any way with the character of the kid-boy scout who I found distracting and annoying (which is ironic, because as a child, I was very much like that).

That being said, this is not a bad movie at all. It is entertaining, and deals with (albeit at quite a superficial level) weighty issues like old age, parental neglect, and hero worship. Out of all the pixar movies, this is the one I would most categorize as a “kids film” while most of the others are quite mature films dressed up as kids films. I don’t believe Up is a serious contender for best picture, but should win the best animated feature category.

Up in the Air

Ryan Bingham (played by George Clooney) has the unenviable job of being a man who is hired by other companies to fire people. For this he spends over 300 days of the year on the road, flying from place to place across the US’ extensive air travel network. This film depicts the story of what happens when a “new kid” arrives in the company and changes their practices, effectively grounding him when he is just short of a lifelong goal – a million frequent flyer miles (myself, I am probably just short of 300,000, but those are from much longer, and less frequent trips).

Based on a book, the dialogue is snappy and it is the characters who ultimately bring this story to life. Clooney, along with Vera Farmiga, and Anna Kendrick are all nominated for acting awards and rightly so. Kendrick especially gives a great performance as the young naïve new kid who comes to face the human realities of what it means to actually fire people (apparently she’s in the Twilight series of movies, which seems like a waste of acting talent really). I was not particularly impressed by Clooney’s performance, although his reaction to certain plot twists is very well carried-out. I don’t believe he has a chance in the best actor award being up against the likes of Jeremy Renner (The Hurt Locker) and Morgan Freeman (Invictus).

A fun and very competently executed film. It loses a bit of momentum just towards the end of the second act, but that is mostly to prepare the audience for the third. Kendrick, being very attractive (how else do you get cast for a Twilight movie?) is sometimes distracting in this sense, although it is a welcome reprieve from what is otherwise a very dialogue-driven and cerebral film. I wouldn’t pick it for best picture, but it is a film that I would have no trouble recommending.

George Clooney fires someone while Kendrick looks on

Team Germany crosses the line despite a fall on the last straight...

These olympics continue to surprise and inspire. Most unusual of the aftermath of the preliminaries is the absence of team Canada in the ladies’ final. The team that lost narrowly to the USA (by 4 hundredths of a second – less than a blade length) was the same team that broke the world record back in Calgary on the 6th of December. Also slightly unexpected is the absence of the Netherlands in the finals. I say “slightly” because the dutch are famous for not working as well as a team as some of the other countries are. The dutch men’s team was simply outskated by a strong team USA led by former inliner Chad Hedrick, while the dutch ladies were their own worst enemy when Renate Groenewold ran out of gas with a lap to go and caused her team to finish behind a strong German team.

The Russian ladies were unexpectedly bettered by Poland, who were in turn bettered (though not unexpectedly) by Japan. Japan will now face Germany in the final, who did very well to overcome the upset-causing US team despite Anni Friesinger running out of gas and falling in the final straight, dramatically throwing her skate over the line then punching the ice in the belief that she had let her team down, only to look up at the scoreboard to find that they had ousted the americans by two tenths of a second.

While the dutch were busy being knocked out by the americans in the men’s race, team Canada made a tough match with Norway look easy, bettering them by over a second, to set up another USA vs Canada showdown, which should warm up the crowd for tomorrow’s big hockey final.

It is difficult to pick a winner in either division. Germany needs to swap out Friesinger and bring in fresh skater Katrin Mattscherodt and also need to communicate a bit better to avoid the last skater falling off the back. Japan have cruised through without much fuss and really have skated “textbook” races, which will make it close. Based on individual performances of the skaters, I’m tipping Germany because of their better performance in the distance events, which will give them an advantage in recovering between rounds, and skating on this slow ice.

The men’s is also very difficult to pick. Watch out for “pushing” strategies. Canada have been practicing and perfecting a technique of the back skaters pushing the front skaters in order to save a bit of energy of the leading skater, particularly in the corner exit. The americans are just beginning to learn about this, and it could be the crucial difference in what is otherwise a very close match up. You’ve got one experienced veteran on each team, in Chad Hedrick and Denny Morrison, both of whom are great 5000m/1500m skaters, teamed up with relatively young and less-experienced up-and-coming skaters. I’m going to give it to Canada, because the hometown crowd will make the lactic burn in their thighs just a little more bearable.

The Canadian women's team on their way to a world record

The ladies’ 5000m was without incident nor any significant surprises (which itself is a bit of a surprise at these games). The favorite – Czech Martina Sablikova won, but after exhausting herself in trying to stay ahead of the pace set by German 21-year-old Stephanie Beckert which was extraordinary to say the least, taking entire seconds off the track record. The bronze medal was won by host country hero and opening ceremony flag-bearer Clara Hughes who became one of Canada’s most decorated olympians with 6 medals – two from summer games (cycling) and four from winter games (speed skating).

The upcoming team pursuit races are only preliminaries, but should be interesting to watch nevertheless. During the world cup season prior to the games, the teams raced each other in a time-trial fashion (like everything else in long track) in order to obtain the highest possible ranking. The top eight qualify for the Olympic games, where unlike in the world cups, the positions are determined by a knockout tournament. This raises the possibility that the best strategy in a race (especially in the quarter finals) is NOT to cover the distance as fast as one possibly can, which is very unusual for long track.

To be good at the team pursuit requires much more than having the three fastest skaters. Team cohesion is also very important. The pursuit draws on skills which are not often well-developed in long track skaters, such as having to skate well in a pack and being able to change the lead skater smoothly and with the minimum expenditure of effort. The ability to skate well behind another skater and get the maximum benefit from the aerodynamic advantage of not having to lead can be crucial. These are skills that are well developed in short track and inline speed skaters, so expect teams made up of crossover athletes to do well.

The favorite for the men is the Netherlands, and on paper it seems that they should be impossible to beat. Sven Kramer will also be hungry for redemption after his devastating disqualification. They are, however, not invincible because they, more than most teams, lack the kind of team cohesion that many other teams actively try to foster. Other challengers include Canada, and the USA. Curiously, the US team did not field Shani Davis to go with Chad Hedrick and Trevor Marsicano, which, one would think, would be something of a “dream team”. Last year’s world champions, Sweden, will need a miracle to make it through, as they are paired with the dutch in the quarterfinals.

The ladies are a similar story with team Canada coming in as heavy favorites, having set a world record in Calgary just last December. The race for the silver will be interesting as Japan, Germany, Russia and the Netherlands are all very strong. In fact, in the Salt Lake City world cup, the last one before the olympics, second, third, and fourth were only separated by a hundredth of a second. The Netherlands has also been suffering from some internal politics and may not end up starting with their strongest 3 skaters which could impede their progress to the final.

Also to think about – each team is allowed to name a squad of four skaters, while only three have to skate (the time is taken from the third skater). This means that the team in the preliminaries may differ from the team in the final. In an effort to “save” skaters for the final, it may be that a slightly slower team doesn’t make it through because they tried to save themselves for a final.

Elma and Martina have a cuddle after their 5k at a world cup last season

Just when I thought this Olympics couldn’t get more unpredictable, the men’s 10,000m threw me another curve ball. Heavily favored for the win, Sven Kramer is disqualified under the most unusual of circumstances. While making a routine lane change from the inner to the outer, coach Gerard Kemkers has a brain cramp and tells him to go inside, Sven obediently obliges and is disqualified for failing to change lanes. He continued to skate, oblivious to this, to set a winning time only to have a post race meeting with Kemkers that can only be described as “heated”. That left 5000m silver medalist Lee Seung Hoon of Korea in the gold medal position, followed by Ivan Skobrev of Russia, then Bob de Jong also of the Netherlands.

In the ladies’ 5000m the clear favorite is Czech Martina Sablikova. Stephanie Beckert of Germany could be a threat as she has a really good kick for the finish, but since she isn’t paired with Sablikova, I don’t think she’ll quite get there. Kristina Groves and Clara Hughes will have the home crowd support and could lift, Groves in particular could be one to watch out for. Daniela Anschutz Thoms from Germany is also a medal threat, especially since she is in the last pair with Martina and will be able to measure her pace off her.

The wild card to watch for is Elma de Vries of the Netherlands. If her head is in a good place, she could conceivably win this event, but the mental aspect is so unpredictable it is impossible to say at this stage. Norway’s Maren Haugli is also an outside chance for a medal and should be inspired after her brother finished 6th in the 10k.

Bob de Jong

The ladies’ 1500m result was, characteristically for the games, a surprise. Inspired by countryman Mark Tuitert’s spectacular win in the 1500m, Ireen Wüst equaled the track record on less-than-optimal ice conditions to set a time which was, ultimately, too difficult to catch. Favorite for the gold medal, Canadian Kristina Groves, could only manage a valiant silver, after being right on-pace for most of the race, and just faltering in the final meters. In third was the gold medalist from the 3000m Martina Sablikova from the Czech Republic.

The men’s 10,000m should be a showdown between 5000m champion Sven Kramer, and fellow dutchman Bob de Jong, who is also the defending Olympic champion. After faltering in the 5000m and missing out on the podium, Bob will be hungry for redemption in what will likely be his final appearance as a skater in the Olympics. The rest of the field is not far behind with Håvard Bøkko of Norway, and Ivan Skobrev of Russia both hot on pace after earning a bronze medal each (and swapping places 3rd-4th, in the 1500m and 5000m). I would give Skobrev the slight advantage in that duel because he is in the final pair with Sven Kramer.

Also look out for Italy’s Enrico Fabris and Alexis Contin of France who will skate together in the 6th pair. They have been training partners during this season, and should be able to keep each other company and push each other to a peak performance. Alexis has also had a long break, not skating since the 5000m and taking the time in between to go to Calgary to train at altitude, as well as escape the media storm that surrounds the Olympics. In fact, I would go so far as to tip Contin for a medal.

Outside chances to watch for are silver medalist Lee Seung Hoon of Korea, who may surprise us as his finishing laps in the 5000m indicate that he had a bit left in the tank. Arjen van der Kieft (whose name is spelled incorrectly on the Olympic start list) from the Netherlands is also an outside threat who has been known to skate the occasional amazing 10k. In the world cup race in Hamar, despite racing in B-grade and not being paired with anyone of any significance, managed to skate a time within a second of Håvard Bøkko’s.

Despite appearences, this is Kristina Groves just after she WON the 1500m at the Calgary World Cup

I’m beginning to think that I may be better off simply putting the names off the start list in a hat and randomly choosing them. Once again, the old adage that “anything can happen” in a race has been proven true. My pick for the win was nowhere to be seen while Shani Davis, the world record holder and favorite managed to come second in the 1500m, a mere 0.03 of a second in front of bronze medalist Håvard Bøkko. The winner, from the Netherlands, was Mark Tuitert, who hasn’t won a race all season. Not only that, he won by a considerable margin of over half a second, and was the only person to skate under 1:46. Ongelooflijk!

The ladies’ event is a bit more of a mixed bag. The statistical favorite should be Kristina Groves, followed by Canadian team mate Christine Nesbitt who won a gold medal in the 1000m. Nesbitt comes into this race ranked 2nd in the world cups despite missing one of the races. If the result of the men’s race is any indication, the ice conditions are currently favoring the all-rounders over the sprinters, so third Canadian Brittany Schussler could be a medal threat. Daniela Anschutz Thoms of Germany, after missing out on a bronze medal in the 3000m by three hundredths of a second to Groves, will be hungry, as will gold medalist from that event Martina Sablikova, who has been known to pull out a very good 1500m on occasion. Ireen Wüst of the Netherlands, and Katya Shikova of Russia are outside medal threats.

Annette Gerritsen, although Dutch national champion in the distance may falter here as the ice is slow favoring longer-distance skaters, as might her team mate Margot Boer, despite her high order in the pairing list. Another skater who seems to be expected to do a lot but probably wont is world record holder in this event, Cindy Klassen, who really hasn’t been able to entirely regain her previous form since coming back from knee surgery.

But really… who the hell knows what’s going to happen!? It’s the Olympics!

Chad Hedrick in the final lap of his 1500m in Calgary

Canada finally brought home the gold with Christine Nesbitt’s gutsy win the 1000m. The slow ice causing problems for many, with a lot of skaters blowing up before the finish, dutch skater Annette Gerritsen set a great time of 1:16.58 to take the lead ahead of Laurine van Riessen until Nesbitt, after being behind in the earlier splits, pipped her at the finish by 2 hundredths of a second. A very good result for Gerritsen who had an unfortunate spill in the 500m two days previously.

The men’s 1500 is a similar story, with a clear favorite, but with some serious threats. Shani Davis, winner of the 1000m is the obvious favorite, especially having broken the world record only in mid December. Moreover, it was his own world record and he is, to date, the only person to have ever gone under 1:42, and he’s done it twice. The challenger is team mate Chad Hedrick who, while not possessing a world record, beat Shani in a 1500m race in Calgary late last year. Another point for consideration is that Chad’s last lap in the 1000m was the fastest of the field, even faster than eventual champion Shani. In the 1500, where the ability to hold on is more important than the ability to get off to a good start, Chad’s die-hard endurance could be the deciding factor, especially in slow conditions such as these.

There are many excellent contenders for the bronze, who could conceivably snatch the silver as well. Dutchmen Stefan Groothuis and Mark Tuitert should put in a strong show, especially after coming 4th and 5th respectively in the 1000m (and only being separated by 3 hundredths of a second on that occasion). Former world record holder Denny Morrison is an outside chance, although given his poor performance in the 1000m, I’m guessing he’s not feeling the ice too well at the moment. Håvard Bøkko from Norway also has a very strong final lap and could rise to the challenge in these slow conditions as well.

Outside chances at a medal include Russia’s Ivan Skobrev, who won a bronze in the 5000m, and of course, Mo Tae Bum of Korea, who already has a gold from the 500, and a silver from the 1000 (between Shani and Chad). Both are obviously skating well, and are certainly in the hunt.

Sophie Muir

Sophie Muir recently made history by not only becoming the first Australian long track skater in 16 years, but is also the first ever female long track olympic speed skater. We’re pretty proud of her. But it takes more than just a pretty face to get into the olympics. Literally thousands of hours of work must be endured to extract the kind of performances required to even get here. As part of my contribution to this team, aside from just being another training partner, I am occasionally called on to help motivate the members of our squad. To this end, I put together a short video for Sophie to watch just before her olympic debut. And now that she has safely completed all her events at this games, I have posted it to youtube so that the world can appreciate the heights of corniness I reach, just to help extract a good performance out of an athlete. The song that can be heard in the background is “Quietly” by Air Castles, and the last few lines of poetry are from the poem “We Are More” which was read out as part of the opening ceremony.

[There is a video that cannot be displayed in this feed. Visit the blog entry to see the video.]

Nesbitt leads

Slow ice conditions meant that many of the skaters in the men’s 1000m “popped” before the finish, and were unable to skate strongly all the way to the finish. The end result though was never in doubt. American Shani Davis emerged victorious and was the only competitor to go under 1:09. In second place was 500m gold medalist Mo Tae Bum from Korea, and in third Shani’s team mate Chad Hedrick surprised all of us with the bronze. Stefan Groothuis, the highest-placed dutchman was fourth, and the dutch were also placed fifth, and sixth showing their strength in the event, but without a medal to take home for it.

The ladies’ 1000m is a similar story with Christine Nesbitt of Canada leading the world cup rankings with wins in every event. Second place is much harder to pick, with many skaters being serious contenders in a close and competitive field. After her spectacular fall in the 500m, I would like to see Annette Gerritsen on the podium, and she certainly has the ability to do it, as does fellow dutch Margot Boer.

Other contenders are similar to the 500m field. Nao Kodaira, after a disappointing showing in the 500m despite being the highest-ranked Japanese, will be looking to improve, as will China’s Beixing Wang (not that an olympic bronze medal is anything to sneeze at). German Monique Angermüller is also in with a good chance.

Outside chances – Ireen Wüst and Laurine van Riessen, both from the Netherlands. Also don’t forget the bronze medalist from the 3000m, Canada’s Kristina Groves, who will also have the crowd behind her. It would also be foolish not to include a Korean in the prediction, given how they’ve been performing lately, so I’ll throw in 500m winner Lee Sang Hwa for a bronze medal chance.

Also be on the lookout for Australian Sophie Muir who is skating in her first olympics. After getting the nerves out of the system in her first 500m race, she skated much more smoothly in her second one to post the 27th fastest time of the second session. After qualifying in front of 500m world record holder Jenny Wolf in the 1000m, she’ll be looking for another top-30 finish, and has a chance at cracking the top-20 if conditions are favorable.

Tip: Holland Heineken House is one of the hottest party locations for the games, but is also one of the more difficult to get into (probably for that very reason). If you happen to be dutch, and have a passport or resident’s card, then you get to join a different (and much shorter queue). Dutch people are, however, allowed to bring guests in. So if you really want to get into HHH, go to the speed skating (because that’s where you’ll find the dutch) and just start randomly asking dutch people if they won’t mind bringing you in. The dutch can be recognized by their overwhelmingly orange attire, as well as being generally very tall and blonde. They can be distinguished from Scandinavians (who have a similar look about them) because they don’t sound like the Swedish chef when they speak, just listen for the gutteral g-sound. Start with “ben je nederlands?” (the j sounds like a y) if they say “ja” that means yes, if they say “nee” (pronounced nay) then they’re lying. Your next question would then be “kunt jou mij aan Heineken Huis nemen” (that was just a guess actually, it could be completely incorrect). Actually, just ask in English, almost all dutchies speak English, and all the ones who travel out of holland invariably do.