TEAM USA SHINES IN INAUGURAL APOLO OHNO INVITATIONAL

Team USA displayed an exceptional performance in the Inaugural Apolo Ohno Invitational. A gold-medal-winning skate in the 1000m by recent World Cup Champion, John-Henry Krueger, highlighted the event.

The short track races were commentated by Apolo Ohno and aired on NBCSN Friday night at 8pm MST. They are available for FREE on-demand streaming here.

The athletes had a great time racing for cash, and fully embraced this new presentation of sport. They spent the evening surrounded by a great crowd, filled with excited fans and Olympic Luminaries including Dan Jansen, Joey Cheek, Eddy Alvarez, Travis Jayner, and Allison Baver, and Katherine Ruetter, who competed for the Dutch relay team as a last minute substitute.

John-Henry Krueger 1^st in Men’s 1000m Final

Salt Lake City, USA (Nov 21) – Team USA’s John-Henry Krueger (Pittsburgh, PA) skated to gold in the Men’s 1000m Final, in a time of 1:26.737, Friday in the first Inaugural Apolo Ohno Invitational. Jessica Smith (Melvindale, MI) took 3^rd in the Ladies 1000m final, behind China’s Yutong Han and 500m world-record-holder, Kexin Fan.

HIGHLIGHTS- 

-       John-Henry Krueger won Gold in Men’s 1000m Final

-       Ryan Pivirotto placed 4^th in his heat in both 500m and 1000m Quarterfinals

-       Keith Carroll placed 4^th in heat in the Men’s 1000m Semifinal

-       Cole Krueger placed 4^th in his heat, racing the Men’s 1000m Quarterfinal in 1:27.186.

-       2014 Olympian Jessica Smith finished 3^rd in the Ladies 1000m final, with a time of 1:34.012.

-       Katy Ralston advanced to the 500m Semifinal to place 5^th in her heat.

-       2014 Olympian Emily Scott skated the Ladies 1000m Semifinal in 1:30.569.

-       Kimberly Goetz skated the 1000m Quarterfinal in a time of 1:40.754, finishing 4^th in her heat.

-       Team USA finished 2^nd in both Men’s and Women’s relays.

QUOTES

John-Henry Krueger

There were lots of strong skaters in that race, so I didn’t want to be behind in the race to mess around with a collision. I decided to take a simpler but harder approach by leading up in the front. The guys behind me were fighting and it paid off to stay in front, even though it required a little more work.

Derek Parra

It was great to be a part of such a groundbreaking event in our sport. The Apolo Ohno Invitational and its mind-grasping concepts of NBA style spot light introductions of athletes, T-shirt tossing intermissions, cash prizes for world class- NASCAR like short track speed skating all wrapped up into a made-for-TV event plays to hands the American sports culture.

OFFICIAL RESULTS

http://www.teamusa.org/US-Speedskating/Events/Results/2014/November/21/Apolo-Ohno-Invitational-Results

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