MEN'S SPEEDSKATING: SMITH ADDS TO SALT LAKE HAUL LONG BEACH SHORT-TRACK SKATER IS PART OF BRONZE-WINNING U.S. RELAY.Byline: Paul Oberjuerge Staff Writer TURIN, Italy - Rusty Smith Rusty Smith (born August 27, 1979) is a short track speed skater from the United States who won bronze in the 500m at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City and another bronze in the 5000m relay at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin. says friends and neighbors in his north Long Beach neighborhood always wondered why he was skating skating: see ice skating; ice dancing; roller skating. skating Sport in which bladelike runners or sets of wheels attached to shoes are used for gliding on ice or on surfaces other than ice. at Paramount Ice Land instead of playing soccer or baseball. Maybe because he knew he would be a medalist at not one, but two Winter Olympics Olympics Sports medicine An international competition among (traditionally) nonprofessional athletes trained in a particular summer or winter sport, which is held every 4 yrs in a selected city. See Paralympics, Special Olympics, World Medical Games. . Smith led off the U.S. men's 5,000-meter short-track speedskating relay team that took the bronze medal Saturday at the Turin Games. ``I feel great,'' Smith said. ``To come out of the Olympics with a medal is a real big deal.'' Apolo Anton Ohno Apolo Anton Ohno (born on May 22, 1982) is an American short track speed skating competitor and a two-time gold medalist in the Winter Olympics. He also competed in and won the reality TV show, Dancing with the Stars in 2007. anchored the relay team, which included Alex Izykowski Alex Izykowski (born January 26, 1984 in Bay City, Michigan) is an American short track speed skater. He competed in the 2006 Winter Olympics of Turin in the 1500m, and was also part of the bronze medal winning 5000m relay. , J.P. Kepka and Smith. Smith, 26, joined the U.S. short-track team in 1997, and won a bronze medal in the 500-meter individual race at the Salt Lake Games in 2002. He suggested the relay medal means more to him. ``My first medal individually was an incredible feeling, to bestanding there, all your accomplishments, all your hard work has really paid off,'' he said. ``But this is a very, very big team sport. It's an individual sport, but we have to have each other there every single day or we wouldn't be able to be individuals. It wouldn't work. I need Apolo. I need J.T. I need Alex, every day.'' It was Smith who pushed off Ohno on the final relay exchange, and Ohno passed Italy's Nicola Rodigara on the second-to-last lap to secure the bronze medal. South Korea took the gold, and Canada the silver. ``I knew we were going to get the bronze with two laps to go when Apolo set up the Italian guy,'' Smith said. ``I knew that was a good sign and he was feeling good out there and we'd do all right.'' Smith set an Olympic record Olympic Records are the best performances in a specific event in that event's history in either the Summer Olympic Games or the Winter Olympic Games. As the Olympics occur only once every four years, many of these records do not correspond with world records, though they are in the 1,000-meter quarterfinals (1 minute, 27 seconds), broken about two hours later, and got to the final, but didn't medal. However, he helped the relay team qualify for the championship. Smith and Ohno exchanged looks and words on the podium podium In architecture, a pedestal on a large scale. It may be any of various elements that form the base of a structure, such as the platform forming the floor and substructure of a Classical temple, a low wall supporting columns, or the structurally or decoratively . ``We looked at each other and realized it's been a long time,'' Smith said. ``I said something to him about `We've been doing this since '97 and we finally did it.' '' Smith said it's too early to say if he just finished his career with an Olympic medal. ``You never want to say (that's) it,'' he said. ``I'm having somuch fun. I enjoy myself. I'm 26, it's my third Olympics. We'll have to see where life goes from this.'' CAPTION(S): photo Photo: Rusty Smith, left, hugs Apolo Anton Ohno after the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. took third in the men's 5,000-meter short-track relay. Franck Fife/Getty Images |
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