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Saturday, November 12, 2005 6:39 EST
Well the first 1500m of 2 is over now ... I'm pretty happy
with the results, as I have had a cold for the past 2 days. It did not affect me too much on the ice, but my energy
level was the same that's for sure.
My legs were heavy in the first few rounds. But they
were getting better and better [as time went on]. I had tough time in the semis. I was with Ahn, Apolo and Jiajun, and I
managed to pass Jiajun at the line for 3rd place. That was a good move, because that gave me 7th place yesterday, and
it is very important to finish in the top 8 over the 2 weekends.
Mathieu and Charles were in the final so it's a good
start to have 3 Canadians in the 1500m at the Games. We just have to repeat that next week .... Because it's Olympic
Qualifiers, there are a lot of countries here, so a lot more races too ....
I did the 2 relays yesterday, too. It went pretty
well. We skated safe. The goal was to get to the semis. Now I only have 2 more relays to do this
weekend ... and a lot of cheering to do for my teamates.
I hope the next 2 days of racing will be shorter. Yesterday
I was at the rink for 11 hours. At least we could go outside for a bit to warm up and catch some sun.
Jo
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Tuesday, November 7, 2005 15:44 EST
Hi everyone,
Here I am in Bormio, Italy for the Olympic qualifiers
that are World Cups too. Isn't our sport complicated? ;-)
I will skate only the 1500m and the relays here.
The goal is for all 3 Canadians to finish in the top 8 in order to have 3 skaters at the Olympic Games [in each distance]. If we don't do that, I have to be in the top 2 Canadians in the 1500m to skate
it at the Games.... Oh yes, another trials for the Canadians here. ;-) We are used to it.
Before coming here we went to Torino to visit some
Olympic venues, like the ice rink and the Village (which is far from being finished, there is still a lot of construction
to do there). We only stayed there for 1 night because we did not have ice there to train.
Since I arrived in Bormio, I am relaxing
a lot finally. I am training, eating and sleeping, that's it. There is nothing to do here, and it's my 5th time
here so.... My first time was in 1994. Yeah I know I am getting old. It was my first time out of North
America. I was traveling with the Canadian National Team as a Junior. I was in the same room with Marc Gagnon
here, so I have very good memories from here.... It did not change at all since then.
Our training is much easier now, on and off the
ice. We still have 2 more days before the races start. I put some new blades on yesterday and I am feeling better
and better on the ice. Let's hope that these hard training sessions will pay off in the next 2 weeks. ;-)
I'll send some news after my 1500m Friday night.
Here is the view I have from my hotel room. Hard not to smile when you wake up with those mountains as your view
each morning.
See ya,
Jonathan
| Photo submitted by Jonathan Guilmette |
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| Steve Robillard, Flou Tremblay, Mathieu Turcotte & Jonathan Guilmette in the mountains of Bormio |
| Photo submitted by Jonathan Guilmette |
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| Morning just outside Jonathan's hotel room in Bormio, Italy |
| Photo submitted by Jonathan Guilmette |
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| The Bormio Mountainside -- absolutely GORGEOUS!! |
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