Doctors told Apolo Anton Ohno to ice it–not take the ice–Sunday after he incurred a six-stitch cut on his left thigh in the final meters of the men’s 1,000-meter Olympic short-track speedskating race Saturday night.
About two hours after Ohno was knocked into the boards in a multiple-skater collision, costing him the gold medal, he said he would be at U.S. team practice as usual Sunday and be ready to race in the 1,500 Wednesday.
However, Ohno was benched for Sunday practice and his precise status is murky. U.S. Olympic Committee team physician Dan Carr said: “The wound is healing and there is only a moderate amount of pain. The rehabbing is centered on pain control and stretching the muscle tissue. The muscle tissue was bruised, not torn.”
Carr said Ohno’s health will be assessed daily and that he should practice Monday. Short-track team leader Jack Mortell of Evanston said he doubts it.
Mortell thinks Ohno, 19, of Seattle, arguably the most heralded American athlete coming into the 2002 Winter Games, would rest for two days, test the leg, then go ahead with Wednesday’s races. Mortell said if Ohno couldn’t race, Ron Biondo of Broadview Heights, Ohio, would replace him, joining Rusty Smith of Sunset Beach, Calif., as the American contingent.
“I think [Ohno will] race,” Mortell said. “The injury would affect his start more than anything in the 500.” That event is not until Saturday.
Ohno was leading in the last 20 meters Saturday night before the stunning crash. Skaters bounced everywhere. Ohno slid into the boards–Mortell said Ohno’s own skate caused the gash–then hauled himself up briefly, fell again, then lunged for the finish line.
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“I was just like in a daze,” Ohno said. “I kind of threw my body across the line.”
Steven Bradbury of Australia, trailing the pack, avoided trouble and skated in for gold. Ohno grabbed the silver, ahead of Canada’s Mathieu Turcotte, who won the bronze by finishing horizontally as well. Turcotte was cut too. He said: “I hit myself in the bum. I can’t sit.”
Bradbury, Australia’s first Winter Olympics gold medalist, admitted to mixed emotions for winning in the style he did.
“Obviously, I had a lot of luck tonight,” Bradbury said.
Although fans booed, there was no griping from the principals.
“We are short-track, and we are amazingly accepting of things,” Mortell said. “There’s just so much that can happen in this sport.”