Apolo Ohno, J.R. Celski Grab Silver, Bronze in Men's 1500 Meter Short Track

Apolo Ohno and J. R. Celski took the first 2010 Winter Olympic medals for the United States tonight, finishing second and third in the Men's 1500 meter short track event held at the Pacific Coliseum. The gold medal went to South Korea's Lee Jung-Su, who set a new Olympic Record record earlier today during the qualifying round, and the momentum of that feat likely carried him to the victory during tonight's finals.

All three men skated in the second, markedly faster final heat of the Men's 1500 meter short track final. Lee's gold medal time of 2:10.949 just edged Apolo Ohno's 2:11.072. Celski, in turn, skated to the finish line more than one second after Ohno.

Canadian hopeful Jean Olivier finished the event in 4th place, just out of the medals. A Canadian athlete has yet to win an Olympic gold medal on Canadian soil.

Apolo Ohno's silver medal in the 1500 meter event is his sixth Olympic medal overall. He and Bonnie Blair now share the distinction of being the most-decorated American athletes in Winter Olympic history. With more events left to skate in Vancouver, Ohno seems poised to break the tie.

Celski, of Federal Way, Washington, was a champion in-line skater before he saw Apolo Ohno skate during the 2002 Olympics, and made the decision to switch to short track. He's since enjoyed great success in short track, winning the overall silver medal at the 2009 World Championships in Vienna.

J. R. Celski may be best known for the horrific injury he suffered at the Olympic Trials in Michigan five months ago. He took a hard fall into a wall that ended with his skate jammed into his own leg. It took over 50 stitches to reconstruct the mangled muscle in his thigh.

Tonight, Celski was actually in fifth place before Korean skaters Sung Si-Bak and Lee Ho-Suk collided on the final lap. Lee was disqualified from the competition as a result of the fracas.

American Jordan Malone was disqualified in an earlier heat after a long review by officials, ending his Olympic debut in less than memorable fashion.

Sources

Men's 1500m Short Track Results, vancouver2010.com

Apolo Anton Ohno

J.R. Celski