Road: Day 2

I am not trying to make myself seem like a hero. In fact, if you look at the results list, you'll usually find me near the top of the bottom 1/3 of the resutls. Neverthelss, I love this picture. AJ Perrie took this picture, my 'claim to fame in front of Luca Presti in a 500', during my 500-meter heat. Once we started, I noticed the pace was quite slow for the first 100-something meters. I had a feeling that I wouldn't be finishing ahead of Luca Presti, Vincent Henry, or Alan from Mexico, so I went to the front and pulled so that I could bring my time down and earn a better ranking. Skating for time does work; I placed 26th in the 1000-meter race...mind you there were a couple of DQ's and one slow heat. Still, for us in Canada, each position counts, and everyone on the Canadian team, although closer to the bottom of the results page than the top, is trying their best at placing the highest possible. Remember this; we fundraised ourselves to get here and each got about $300 or so. The coach (Alex Perrie) and manager (Tyler Congdon) receive minimal financial support as well.


USA's Joey Mantia following France's Thomas Boucher- Mantia is an animal; he set the world record in the 10km last night (13:46) and set the world record in the quarter finals of the 500-meter today as well as in the semi-finals (high 38)!


One of the giants of our sport: Italian sprinter Gregory Duggento shows off his hardware that he collected at this year’s world championships.


The junior women coming to the line during the elimination race.


A skater from Chinese-Taipei leads the way. You can make out Australia’s Mick Byrne in the white as well as USA’s Joey Mantia and Dane Lewis on the right.


This is the most perfect picture I have ever taken. After I was eliminated, I cooled down and then watched the race from the sidelines. Jesse Pauley had my camera and gave it to me, so I started to shoot the race. I love this photo. It’s of Joey Mantia finishing the 20km elimination race. He stopped skating before the line and realized that there was someone (Colombia's Nelson Garzon) challenging him for the victory, so after he turned back, he broke out in this hawk.


There was some kind of soccer game going on. If someone broke one of the rules, then the person had to stand against the wall and get the ball kicked at them. Quite a large crowd looked on. Amongst other exciting hapennings, there was a great wrestling match in the Mexican's tent between Mystico and Senior Loco. Senor Loco won the match and keeps the championships belt. I know Senior Loco quite well, he's a good guy.


Italian skaters watching the medal presentation for the 20km eliminations right before the 500-meter sprint finals. Italian skater Patricio Triberio (spelling) won the 500-meter sprint and was mobbed buy his country mates who were just so pleased to have a well earned gold medal going to Italy.



Italy’s Patricio Triberio on his way to winning the senior men’s 500-meter sprint.


Joey Mantia’s father stands proud during the US national anthem playing for his son’s victory in the 20km elimination race.