J.R. Celski: "I'm almost back to full speed now" | Olympics notebook

Let the gulps begin.

With the countdown clock to the 2010 Winter Games reaching 30 days, thousands of athletes around the world are entering the last phase of training plans years in the making.

Few, it's safe to say, are following one as hastily devised as that of short-track speedskater J.R. Celski of Federal Way, who figures the age of the plan is less important than how well it's followed.

The old plan for Celski, who grew up watching local hero Apolo Ohno skating in the Olympics on TV, was clicking along like clockwork.

With both junior and senior world titles under his belt, Celski, 19, entered this winter's skating season as a likely medal favorite in Vancouver. But that plan went straight into the dumpster Sept. 12, when Celski suffered a horrific crash at the Olympic Trials. A skate blade sliced into his left thigh, cutting to the bone and severing his quadriceps muscle.

Celski promptly vowed to recover and claim the Olympic spot for which he had already qualified at those trials. To the surprise of many outside his camp — and absolutely no one within it — he has done that.

"I'm almost back to full speed now, believe it or not," Celski said Friday from Salt Lake City, where he has resumed training with the national short-track team. He aims to be there by the time the Games begin.

Celski possesses a spirit as indefatigable as you'll find in an athlete. But he admits the path back to competitive racing, while short, has been extremely steep.

"It's not an easy road," he said.

Retooling for the Games after such a traumatic injury has been a mental challenge, as well. Yes, he has crash flashbacks — especially when he hit a patch of bad ice, lost an edge and went careening into the corner pads at a recent practice.

"We're taking these corners at 35, 30 miles per hour," he said. "It's scary, of course. There's a certain point where you can be comfortable at doing that."

He's not quite there yet. But he can see it from here, and has little doubt.

His first post-crash international competition will come in the Games themselves — Feb. 13 in the 1,500 meters. And even after he forces that day in September out of his mind, its evidence will travel along with him to his grave.

That 6-inch scar, he notes, is pretty impressive.

"People keep telling me to put vitamin E on it," Celski said. "I'm not going to do anything to it. I want to be reminded of what I overcame."

Here are some updates on other Washington athletes with a solid chance of joining Team USA next month:

Five-time medalist Ohno is entering the final phase of his Olympic training in Utah, and sounds relaxed, focused and confident as he seeks to cap his career by becoming the most-medaled U.S. male Winter Olympian in history.

Veteran doubles luger Christian Niccum of Woodinville, along with sliding partner Dan Joye of San Jose, Calif., qualified for the Games by finishing fourth in a World Cup race at Lillehammer, Norway, last month. The pair will be competing with a definite eye toward Vancouver.

"When the pressure is on, we seem to do well," Niccum said last week from Europe. "Our goal from the beginning has been to have our best performance at the Olympics."

Hockey forward Karen Thatcher of Blaine made the cut and is skating with Team USA during its final prep toward the Games, where it is widely expected to meet Canada in the gold-medal match.

Cross-country skier Torin Koos of Leavenworth has had a solid early season on the World Cup, skiing with Andy Newell of Vermont to a sixth-place finish in a team sprint in Germany in December. He's on track to make his third Winter Olympics team.

Alpine skier Scott Macartney of Kirkland recently has experienced new back troubles to go along with older ski injuries, and finds himself in a tough race to make the U.S. team for his third Olympics. He needs something like a top-10 finish or two top-15 finishes in the remaining two downhills and one Super-G before the Games.

Defending world champion moguls skier Patrick Deneen of Cle Elum qualified by winning the U.S. Freestyle trials in Steamboat Springs, Colo., last month, and is prepping for his run for gold at Cypress next month.

Bobsled driver Bree Schaaf of Bremerton, in the midst of her first full season on the World Cup circuit, has held her own, posting a fourth-place finish in Park City, Utah, in November. With two races remaining before the Games, the U.S. is poised to qualify three women's sleds for Vancouver by Jan. 20. That would put Schaaf in a driver's seat at Whistler Sliding Centre next month.

Figure skater Ashley Wagner, who spent some time growing up in Seabeck, Kitsap County, goes into this month's U.S. Figure Skating Trials in Spokane as a solid contender for one of two U.S. women's spots for the Vancouver Games. She was the only U.S. woman to qualify for last month's Grand Prix final in Tokyo, where she finished fourth.

The 2010 Winter Games will be the seventh covered by Ron Judd, author of the keepsake guide "The Winter Olympics: An Insider's Guide To The Legends, The Lore, And The Games." Reach him at 206-464-8280 or rjudd@seattletimes.com