Welcome! My name is Michael Gilday and I am a Short Track Speedskater from Yellowknife, NWT, Canada. I currently train at the National Training Centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. I've created this blog primarily to let family and friends know about competitions and travel. I also hope to educate a bit about short track and maybe even entertain. Enjoy!

Monday, August 10, 2009

Day 1

For those who are interested, here is a summary of the selection criteria for this years Olympic Trials. 


Short Track Speed Skating Olympic Selection Criteria and Procedure
Olympic Selection: August 9-18, 2009, Pacific Coliseum, Vancouver, BC

Pre-Qualification

Athletes had a chance to pre-qualify by finishing in the top-3 overall, prior to the 3000m, at the 2009 World Short Track Championships. Pre-qualified athletes do not have to skate at the Olympic Selection event.
Pre-qualified athlete: Charles Hamelin

Olympic Selection Format

16 men and 16 women were invited to skate in the Olympic Selection. The list is enclosed. Each distance (500m, 1000m, 1500m) will be raced three times. The best two results of each athlete will be used for the ranking per distance.
A maximum of 5 male and 5 female skaters can be selected for the Olympic Team. One position for each gender will be selected at the discretion of the High Performance Short Track Committee, leaving four female and three male positions to be selected at the Olympic Selection event. 

Ladies:
As there are no pre-qualified women, selection will be done as follows:
A If the same athlete is ranked first in all three distances, she will be selected, along with the next best ranked athlete in the 500m and the next two best athletes based on overall classification in the 500m and 1000m. 
B If two athletes are ranked first in the three distances, they will both be selected, along with the next best ranked athlete in the 500m and the next best athlete based on overall classification in the 500m and 1000m.
C If three different athletes are ranked first in each distance, they will all be selected, along with the next best ranked athlete in the 500m.

Men:
As there is one pre-qualified man, selection will be done as follows:
A If the same athlete is ranked first in all three distances, he will be selected, along with the next best ranked athlete based on overall classification in the 500m and 1000m, and the next best ranked athlete based on overall classification in all three distances
B If two athletes are ranked first in the three distances, they will both be selected, along with the next best ranked athlete based on overall classification in the 500m and 1000m.
C If three different athletes are ranked first in each distance, they will all be selected.

Day one went well. I won the 1500m and was 7th in the 500m. Definitely a good start, but there is lots of racing to go though and I will be taking it day by day. 

Video of the finals is already up and youtube and can be found here.

6 comments:

Denise said...

hey. thanks! i think I can still count myself as a half yellowknifer. yah alison and i were talking about the speed skating world and she mentioned she knew you. looks like trials got off to a good start, good luck with the rest of the racing!

Anonymous said...

Good call on putting that up. I didn't know how it worked, nice to know.

Good going on the 1500 too.

Anonymous said...

YAAAH! GO GILDAY!!!!!
You can doooo it.
Supporting you from all over the globe ;)

Anonymous said...

HEY!!!
I just showed the you tube videos to my old host family in Sweden, they were like "and this boy is from yellowknife!?!?"
way to go bud!
-Bryn

Anonymous said...

Great start Michael! all the best with the rest of the trials.
- Mike A

Anonymous said...

Great Job Michael! I am sure your Mom and Dad are having heart attachs (way too much stress) everyone in the Yukon is pulling for ya.... Can you feel it?

Bruce