Ohno says it's risky business in finals

TURIN, Italy — If Saturday is the last Olympic ride for Apolo Ohno, the schedule makers could not have crafted a more fitting end.

Ohno, in a rough-and-tumble preliminary heat, outdueled three opponents Wednesday at the Palavela to advance to the quarterfinals in Saturday's 500 meters — short-track speedskating's answer to the 100-meter dash.

How does Ohno handicap that race?

"It's a crapshoot," he says.

Win or lose, on that same night, he'll join his teammates in the men's 5,000-meter relay — an even greater crapshoot, as 20 skaters from five nations will be making laps around the short track all at the same time, rather than the typical 16.

Anything can happen. It probably will. And the three-time medalist, reflecting on all that Wednesday night, sounded as if he was beginning to see these Olympics as his last.

"It's my last week at the Games," he said. "Basically, I just want to enjoy every single race I have."

He didn't bite on the obvious follow-up: Last week at these Games, or all of them?

"I don't know," said Ohno, 23, who won a bronze in the 1,000 meters Saturday. "This is my last week, you know? That's how I'm thinking of it. I don't know. I Iove sports so much, everything about them. Especially amateur sports. But I don't know."

He'll make that call, he said, "in the next couple of months."

In the next couple of days, he'll be focusing on Saturday night's grand finale, which will see Ohno race in as many as three 500-meter races, then take on the world in the free-for-all relay race.

The U.S. is a darkhorse in the relay. And Ohno is a bit of a darkhorse in the 500.

It's not his strongest race, although his powerful start puts him in good stead in a contest where the battle for early position is critical, and the entire affair is over in about 42 seconds.

Still, the 500 brings into play everything that Ohno has craved about the sport since he was a kid in Federal Way.

"Every single country has a 500-meter skater that's pretty fast," Ohno said. "Everybody has a good start. It's all about explosiveness, a little bit of tactics. But speed. A lot of speed."

Ohno is rich in all those departments. But that alone won't be enough to send him to the medal stand a second time in Piazza Castello.

Short track is all about being in the right place, then hoping your karma deficits are all paid down. You have to be good, and lucky.

Wednesday's race was a good example. Ohno started in lane three — not the place to be in the start for the 500, where four skaters are sprinting, not skating, to get to the first position in the turn. It's like four guys going full out for the same door to a phone booth.

Because early position is so critical, contact in the first turn is par for the course, and it happened in this race, when Ohno tangled with hometown fave Roberto Serra of Italy. Both racers kept their feet.

But in a race where only the top two advance, Ohno was quickly bumped to third, where he stayed for most of the race's 4 ½ laps. With a lap to go, he passed into first, hanging on to win the heat, pumping his fist in the air with satisfaction.

"It was fun," he said. "It's been a long time since I've enjoyed 500s like that."

Ohno has already declared his Olympic experience a success. But it's an open secret he would see a single-bronze-medal Games as a disappointment. There's no question he has the heart and brains to add another medal. But there is some doubt about his legs.

Ohno's team says he is at full strength. His father, Yuki, in an Internet blog, has said otherwise, referring to leg injuries being treated by a doctor flown in from Tacoma.

Details are sketchy. Asked whether Ohno is nursing an injury, U.S. Speedskating spokeswoman Melissa Scott said "No. Not really." Pressed further, she added: "Officially, no, he doesn't."

Ohno himself said Wednesday that his legs were fine — especially after a night where he only had to skate a single heat of 500-meter racing.

But four days ago, after a long night of racing 1,000 meter heats and finals, Ohno appeared in a bit of pain walking around the arena.

Saturday night's relay final begins less than 40 minutes after the 500-meters final. Is it too much to ask to expect Ohno to push through several rounds of 500-meter prelims, then lead his team to an upset medal in the relay?

Probably. But a medal in the 500 for Ohno isn't out of the question.

Four medals in two Olympics would seal his place as one of the greats in his sport's history, particularly among Americans.

As usual, the odds are stacked against him. Ahn Hyun-Soo and Lee Ho-Suk, the two South Koreans who took him at the finish line of the 1,000, both are back for the 500. And they frankly don't look like they've slowed down a lot.

If this race was run on a long track, with dividers between the skaters, only the fool's money would be on Ohno.

But it isn't. And the one-word definition of short track that drew Ohno to the sport in the first place might yet prove to be the thing that finally pushes him away from it.

Crapshoot.

Ron Judd: rjudd@seattletimes.com.