Smith Has Reason to Feel Good

As a short-track speedskater, Rusty Smith of Sunset Beach is accustomed to moving fast. That means he might have to make an adjustment to the stately pace of the float he will ride in the Rose Parade on New Year’s Day.

“I’ll be sitting there and waving,” said Smith, who will be aboard the Home Depot float, sitting with his skates in a mock-up of a garden, to represent the company’s involvement in the Olympic Job Opportunities Program. “It’s pretty cool. It’s a real privilege to sit on that float.”

Smith, who was reared in north Long Beach, qualified for the U.S. Olympic short-track team for the Salt Lake City Games in the 500 meters, 1,000, 1,500 and the 5,000-meter relay. Only Smith and Apolo Anton Ohno of Seattle qualified at each individual distance and the relay during last week’s Olympic trials in Kearns, Utah.

“For me, everything went fine. All the goals I set, I accomplished,” said Smith, whose 4,181 points at the trials placed him second to Ohno’s 7,286. “I can actually peak for the Olympics now. I was extremely sick at the trials. Apolo beat me by three seconds in the time trials and I usually beat him. Given that I started feeling sick, I’m pretty happy with my results.”

Smith, a graduate of Huntington Beach Ocean View High, was 13th in the 1,000 at the Nagano Games, 22nd in the 500 and part of the sixth-place U.S. relay team. He was second overall at last season’s U.S. short-track championships and eighth overall at the world championships.

Also qualifying for the Olympic team on the fast Olympic oval was Ron Biondo of Broadview Heights, Ohio. He qualified for the relay and will compete in an individual race if Ohno or Smith decides to skip one. Shani Davis of Chicago, J.P. Kepka of St. Louis and Dan Weinstein of Brookline, Mass., won spots on the 5,000-meter relay.

Among the women, Allison Baver of Sinking Spring, Pa., Julie Goskowicz of Colorado Springs and Mary Griglak of Berea, Ohio, qualified for the 3,000-meter relay. Caroline Hallisey of Natick Mass., qualified to skate the 500, 1,000 and relay, as did Amy Peterson of Maplewood, Minn. Erin Porter of Saratoga Springs, N.Y., qualified for the 1,000, 1,500 and relay.

The men’s long-track team is Kip Carpenter of Brookfield, Wis., (500 and 1,000), Joey Cheek of Greensboro, N.C., (500, 1,000 and 1,500), Casey FitzRandolph of Verone, Wis., (500 and 1,000), Jason Hedstrand of Shoreview, Minn., (10,000), Derek Parra of San Bernardino (1,500), Nick Pearson of Vernon, Wis., (1,000 and 1,500), Marc Pelchat of Chelmsford, Mass., (500) and J.P. Shilling of Baltimore (1,500).

Women’s long-track qualifiers were Elli Ochowicz of Waukesha, Wis., (500), Jennifer Rodriguez of Miami (500, 1,000, 1,500 and 5,000), Amy Sannes of St. Paul, Minn., (500, 1,000 and 1,500), Becky Sundstrom of Glen Ellyn, Ill., (500, 1,000 and 1,500) and Chris Witty of West Allis, Wis., (500, 1,000 and 1,500).

What a Ride

Gea Johnson didn’t expect to become the central figure in a bobsled soap opera when she left Bonny Warner’s sled to become Jean Racine’s brakeman.

She resents being painted as a home wrecker for a decision she said was based purely on competitive considerations, and she said Wednesday she’s hurt by Warner’s accusations she’s not grateful for Warner’s work in educating her in a sport she took up merely 41/2 months ago.

“She did pave the way for me. I created my own opportunities, but she did a lot with the coaches and a lot of other things,” said Johnson, who earned an Olympic berth with Racine last weekend, although Warner and new brakeman Bethany Hart didn’t qualify. “To read some of the things she’s saying makes me feel bad. Bonny Warner is a wonderful woman, and when you’re faced with your own limitations, especially in an Olympic year, it’s a difficult situation.

“It was horrible for me to make this decision. I had to put all those things aside, the personal friendship and all, to do what’s best for the U.S. team.... A lot of people ask me is it the ethical or loyal thing to do? In my mind, yes. To stay with a person I don’t think will have a chance at a medal doesn’t help the team.

“People have turned it into a catfight. It’s a business decision. Bonny once told me this is a sport, not a marriage. It’s a business, and to compete at this high a level, you have to make tough decisions.”

Johnson, who has undergone several major knee operations to continue competing at 34, said repeated stories about her past four-year drug suspension and Lady Godiva-like pose for a fitness magazine miss her greater accomplishments.

She gave up fighting the suspension in court because although she was able to compete in the U.S., she couldn’t compete internationally, and she wanted to compete in international meets. The photo, she said, was supposed to evoke Eve in the Garden of Eden. “It was a celebration of the female athlete and feminine strength, that a woman can lift 250 pounds and be strong and be tough,” she said. “I’m not posing with different augmentations. That’s not me.”

She said before people judge her, they should know she helps support her mother and four siblings, including a 32-year-old brother with a learning disability, and is a Sunday school teacher in Phoenix.

“If that’s a messy past, I’ll take that any day of the year,” she said. “Why don’t people write about that? I’m not going to sit there and write a list of all the awards I’ve ever won, and believe me, there’s a ton. It’s not about me, it’s about my journey. It’s about having a dream and never giving up. It’s not about gossip or the wrong perception people are creating.”

Let the Games Begin

NHL players who were too wrapped up in their everyday routines to care much about the Olympics a few weeks ago seem more excited about the Games now, with rosters having been submitted last week and just over six weeks to go until the opening ceremony.

“It’s a tough schedule, but a good tournament,” said Mighty Duck defenseman Oleg Tverdovsky, who is looking forward to playing for Coach Viacheslav Fetisov and with Russian legend Igor Larionov. “It becomes a lot of games. But I would say whenever there’s a chance, I would play for Russia.

“There’s going to be a lot of good players. Every team will have a shot. Hopefully, we’ll have one thing in mind: to win the gold.”

He also said he’s not second-guessing the decision by fellow Russians Sergei Zubov, Alexander Mogilny and Alex Zhitnik to skip the Games. “I’m not here to judge anybody,” he said. “I’m sure they have their reasons. I’m just glad for the guys who are going to play and help the team.”

Duck left wing Paul Kariya also sees no favorites going into the Games.

“There’s probably six teams that have a chance of winning,” said Kariya, one of the first players chosen by Team Canada. “This short a tournament, with single-elimination in the medal round, if you run into a hot goalie or a hot player, it could be over. One of the factors will be which team comes together the quickest chemistry-wise, and style of play.”

Kariya played for Canada’s silver medal-winning team at Lillehammer in 1994 but missed the 1998 Nagano Games because of a concussion. He’s eager for another Olympic chance.

“That’s probably been the biggest disappointment of my career, not being able to play in ‘98, especially because it was in Japan and because of my family,” said Kariya, who is of Japanese heritage. “I just hope I’ll be healthy....

“I think we’re going to have a lot of offensive skill. Pat [Quinn, Canada’s coach] has already said we’re going to let the guys play and use their skills, and that’s something I’m really looking forward to because you don’t see that in the NHL.

“The game is so defensive and tight-checking it will be nice to let loose a little bit.”

Here and There

The Olympic torch, which spent Christmas in New York, will make its way through New England the next few days before moving to central and western New York, Pennsylvania and Ohio. It will reach Southern California Jan. 14.

The Canadian Olympic Assn. will enter Vancouver as its bid city for the 2010 Games in January, a month before the International Olympic Committee’s Feb. 4 deadline to submit names of bid city applicants. Vancouver is likely to have a better chance at winning the Winter Games than Toronto had in chasing the 2008 Summer Games, which were awarded to Beijing. A victory by Vancouver would virtually end any hope of a U.S. city hosting the 2012 Summer Games.

Hermann Maier skied downhill Friday for the first time since he nearly lost a leg in a motorcycle accident in August. Maier’s spokesman, Knut Okresek, said Maier has accepted there’s little chance he will compete in the Olympics. “He said, ‘Never say never,’ but time is really running out,” Okresek said.