The Junior women 20k elimination was more like a boxing match than a skating race. They probably wasted just as much energy fighting as they did skating. With the pace slow, the bunch of skater fought on every straight and corner. With this much fighting there was bound to be a lot of crashes and quite a few girls were carried off the road. Once the battle was over, Brittany Bowe USA prevailed followed by Catherine Peñan Chile and Mi Young Korea took the bronze? The race was marred by the elimination of a Korean skater who quite possibly should not have been eliminated? The Korean coaching staff was very angry after the race but the officials wouldn’t listen to them?

The junior men’s race had almost as many fights as the girls? Thomas Baird of Australia put up a good fight for 3rd place? The final 5 skaters had 2 italians, 2 French and 1 Colombian? In the final straight the Colombian Andres Muñoz pulled away for a convincing victory leaving the others to bettle it out for the minor placings?

In the senior women, Laura Lardani looked to be one of the favorites for the event but she bowed out in the final elimination with 2 laps to go? This left 2 Colombians, 1 French, 1 Argentinian, and 1 Taiwanese skater? The Taiwanese skater Pan Li Ling lead out the sprint about 200 meters from the line but as she was sprinting for the line she tragically crashed within sight of the finish? She was totally exhausted but still mustered the energy to get up and skate across the line before collapsing? The Colombian combination of Vivas and Mendez proved too strong over the final meters with a Colombian one two finish? Nathalie Barbotin from France was third and another strong performance from Melissa Bonnet of Argentina for 4th?

In the senior men’s race there was a big crash involving a Frenchman, a Dutchman and a Korean. There were too many skaters trying to be in the same space at the same time and the crash occurred. The skaters kept being eliminated until the finish where the real drama occurred. Joey Mantia USA had the race won but stood up to celebrate very early before the line. Nelson Garzon attacked the line with speed and only missed winning the race by four one hundredths of a second. You can view the finish line picture on the photos page.

Day 6 – 500m

Kalon Dobbin put on soft wheels to gain grip in the corners in the 500m Men’s final. He was planning to sprint later in the race but a gap occurred after Thomas Boucher France tussled with Andrea Zanetti Italy. Kalon seized the opportunity and took off sprinting very far from the finish. Juan Tobon Colombia was catching Kalon fast and as Kalon said after the race, his legs locked as he was pushing so hard on the soft wheels and sprinting so far out. It took all his energy to hold the other 3 skaters off and take the win. The whole crowd was very happy for the popular skater.

Heather Richardson USA easily won the Jr Women’s race, Marco Falcone took out the Jr Men’s race, and Jennifer Caicedo won the Senior Women’s event.

The mood tonight was very upbeat with the championships concluding soon. Some sprinters are already ready to party with no more events and no chance in the marathon. Tomorrow is the day for the relay event and then the marathon event which is said to be on a beautiful course near the water. You can see pictures of the marathon course here:
http://trend.sports.cn/rollersports/english/news/2005-08-18/649191.html
http://rollersports.sports.cn/zt/05suhua/pics/2005-07-28/57985.html