By Nicole Walton
Marquette, MI – Two Olympic hopefuls were injured during the final night of speedskating on Northern Michigan University's campus Saturday. During the 500-meter semifinals J.R. Celski became entangled in a group rounding a turn and slammed into the boards. As he bounced off the padding his right skate sliced into his left leg near the knee, spilling blood onto the ice. Celski was taken to Marquette General Hospital, where doctors performed surgery Saturday night. Speedskating officials are confident he will be able to continue training for the February Olympics in Vancouver. Although Celski wasn't able to finish the 500-meter race, his performance over the previous three nights earned him a nomination to the U.S. Olympic Team.
Meanwhile, the condition of skater Maria Garcia is still unknown. The Carson, California native hit the boards hard during her 500-meter semifinal heat and was taken off the ice on a stretcher.
Qualifying for the men's team are Apollo Anton Ohno, Celski, Jordan Malone, Travis Jayner, and Simon Cho. On the women's side Katherine Reutter got top honors, followed by Alyson Dudek, Kimberly Derrick, Allison Baver, and Lana Gehring.