POSTED: Sunday February 21st 2010
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
APOLO OHNO BECOMES MOST-DECORATED US WINTER OLYMPIAN EVER; SHANI DAVIS WINS SILVER; LINDSEY VONN EARNS BRONZE
“Apolo Anton Ohno has just set US Winter Olympics history. It’s Apolo Seven.” – NBC’s Ted Robinson
“Switzerland, neutral in terms of all global conflicts, but superior when it comes to ski jumping.” - NBC’s Bob Costas
VANCOUVER - Feb. 20, 2010 - Apolo Ohno became the most decorated US Winter Olympian ever when he earned his seventh career medal by taking bronze in the men’s short track 1000 meters on the ninth day of the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Winter Games.
Ohno, whose seven career medals consist of two gold, two silver, and three bronze, broke a tie with Bonnie Blair, who accumulated six medals (five gold, one bronze) in speed skating in the 1980-90s. Ohno’s bronze in the 1000 meters is his second of the these Games. He won silver in the 1500 meters on Day 2 of competition.
Speed skater Shani Davis earned his second medal of the Games with a silver in the men’s 1500 meters. He won gold in the 1000 meters on Wednesday. Alpine skier Lindsey Vonn also won her second medal of the Vancouver Olympics with a bronze in the women’s Super-G. She won gold in the women’s downhill on Wednesday. The US leads the medal count with 23.
Steven Holcomb and Curt Tomasevicz drove USA 1 to fourth place after two heats in two-man bobsled competition. Their total time is only 0.62 off the pace of the leaders, Andre Lange and Kevin Kuske in Germany 1. The competition concludes tomorrow.
Primetime host Bob Costas featured the double gold medal feat of Switzerland ski jumper Simon Ammann. Costas: “Switzerland, neutral in terms of all global conflicts, but superior when it comes to ski jumping.”
The national anthems of Canada and Great Britain were played during the men’s and women’s skeleton medal ceremonies, which were won by Jon Montgomery and Amy Williams, respectively.
On cable, Team USA defeated Great Britain, 6-5, in overtime in women’s curling on CNBC. Slovakia defeated Latvia, 6-0, in men’s hockey on MSNBC.
SHORT TRACK:
Play-by-Play: Ted Robinson
Analyst: Andy Gabel
Reporter: Andrea Joyce
Gabel on Ohno: “He has all the tools it takes to be great. He’s fast, he’s smart, he’s strong, and tactically, he’s one of the best, if not the best in the world.”
Gabel on JR Celski: “It’s just amazing what this young man has achieved so far.”
Robinson on Korea placing two skaters in the final: “And the Koreans, again find a way to survive.”
Gabel on Ohno’s semi-final move: “That was a near miracle.”
Gabel on the atmosphere before the final: “I’ve seen a lot of short track speed skating races in my life - I’m not sure I’ve ever experienced anything like this. The place is absolutely packed.”
Robinson: “It’s the Koreans 1-2 and Apolo Ohno wins bronze!”
Gabel: “What an amazing pass by Lee Ho-Suk to get to the front.”
Robinson: “Apolo Anton Ohno has just set US Winter Olympics history. It’s Apolo Seven.”
Robinson on Ohno: “So the consistency and the brilliance of Apolo Anton Ohno over three Olympic games highlighted by a silver and a bronze here in Vancouver.”
Ohno: “It was a great race. I skated very hard. I moved up into prime position with two or three laps to go and I felt great. In my head, I thought the race was mine but I made one bad slip and that’s where I lost all my speed.”
Ohno on coming back from being in fifth place: “I think just experience. I knew the Koreans would be coming around any minute. But again, because I had that big slip I lost so much speed.”
On his seven medals: “It feels amazing, especially in a sport as volatile as short track speed skating. This is my third Olympic Games, and there’s no other athlete here competing that have gone three Olympic Games and medaled every time. I did my best. If I didn’t make that slip, I think I would’ve been able to win the race. But there’s no ‘ifs,’ ‘ands’ or ‘if I could’ve.’ No regrets, I’m happy to race and I left it all on the ice.”
SPEED SKATING:
Play-by-Play: Dan Hicks
Analyst: Dan Jansen
Reporter: Andrea Kremer
Hicks on Chad Hedrick: “This 1500 meter race is what he’s been looking forward to for years.”
Hicks on Hedrick being eliminated from medal contention: “Hedrick, out of the medals in his final individual event of his Olympic career.”
Hicks on Shani Davis: “And Davis with the silver.”
Costas on the Netherland’s Mark Tuitert winning the gold medal: “This is their national pastime when it comes to sports. This is so huge there.”
Davis to Kremer on trying to top the best time: “I thought it was a doable time. I went for it. Just really hard ice conditions for me. I was really tired. I fought as much as I could but today the last outer was too much for me to bear. I just couldn’t do it today but I tried my best and I’m happy with the results.”
On his race: “I was trying to go out there and leave it all on the track and I was able to. But it was silver today instead of a gold. It’s ok. It’ll keep me motivated. That’s my favorite race. I want to win it someday.”
ALPINE SKIING:
Play-by-Play: Tim Ryan
Analysts: Todd Brooker and Christin Cooper
Reporter: Steve Porino
Cooper on the conditions: “It’s just like concrete up there - Just perfect, difficult, challenging conditions.”
Cooper on Julia Mancuso taking a wide turn: “A massive mistake there.”
Cooper on Lindsey Vonn’s injury: “She’s proven the ability to overcome it. Even on this rough and tumble course.”
Ryan on Vonn after finishing her race: “Well that’ll make her forget her slalom.”
Ryan on gold medal winner Fischbacher: “She’s so excited she nearly smacked herself in the face with her ski.”
Fischbacher on her race: “It was a really crazy run.”
Vonn on her race: “I’m happy with it. I definitely think I could’ve skied better, I thought I skied the most difficult sections on the top well. But I wasn’t letting the ski run on the bottom, I wasn’t as clean as I could’ve been. I should’ve risked more but hindsight is 20-20 and I’m really happy with another medal.”
Vonn on the U.S. ski team’s success: “It’s amazing. Bode and Weibrecht getting silver and bronze yesterday was so cool—I think we’re definitely fueling off each other. We’re all getting inspired by each other. I think Bode said it well yesterday, when you see one of your teammates having success, it makes you want that even more. We definitely have the determination and the skill, and we’re putting it all out on the line at these Games and it’s definitely coming through for us.”
Ryan: “The US assault on Whistler continued in the women’s Super G.”
BOBSLED:
Play-by-Play: Bob Papa
Analyst: John Morgan
Reporter: Lewis Johnson
Papa describing an ideal body type for bobsled: “Think of Brian Urlacher, the middle linebacker for the Bears, and his explosion with that size and power.”
Morgan on the US’s Steve Holcomb’s good second run: “If he does that the next two heats, he’s got a chance to medal.”
Holcomb: “It was a decent run, we had a little mistakes at the top, a few minor things in the middle. It kept us in the mix, but I think we can go faster tomorrow. We just have to go back to the village, watch some video and come out tomorrow fighting.”
CNBC, Women’s Curling:
USA 6 vs. Great Britain 5, OT
Fred Roggin (Host), Andrew Catalon (Play-by-Play), Colleen Jones (Analyst), Elfi Schlegel (Reporter)
Catalon on USA’s win: “Maybe the tide is turning for the U.S.”
Jones: “If you are a fan of U.S. curling, you’ve gotten used to these nail biters. It seems that both the men’s and women’s games have all come down to high drama.”
Jones on Team USA gaining momentum: “Success breeds success within a program.”
Jones on Great Britain’s Jackie Lockhart: “She’s one of those players that when she gets on a roll, she gets fired up and she just keeps playing better and better. You don’t want Jackie Lockhart on a roll. She is awesome.”
MSNBC, Men’s Ice Hockey:
Slovakia 6 vs. Latvia 0
Bill Patrick (Host), Mike Milbury (Studio Analyst), Jeremy Roenick (Studio Analyst), Kenny Albert (Play-By-Play), Joe Micheletti (Analyst)
Roenick on Slovakia: “They are full of NHL talent, they have a lot of good goal scorers and they have a great goaltender.”
Slovakia’s Marian Gaborik on the Olympics: “There’s definitely pressure to play for your country. It’s a big honor, it’s every four years and it’s a very big challenge to play against the best players in the world.”
Slovakia’s Marian Hossa on playing next to his brother Marcel Hossa: “It’s not going to get better than that. I am going to try and enjoy every little bit of it.”
###
Members of the media can get more information about NBC Universal and its programming on the NBC Universal Media Village Web site at www.nbcumv.com.
# # #
Keywords · NBC Universal · Vancouver 2010
Name: Christopher Paul (chris) Mccloskey
Organization: NBC Universal
Email:
Phone: 212-664-5598
URL: www.NBCOlympics.com
Please refer all questions to the company listed above issuing the press release. SFC will not be able to assist you with any inquiries and disclaims any content in these press releases.


