Olympic Short Track Speed Skating

Team USA is expected to bring back multiple medals from the speedskating events in Sochi. Both the men's and women's teams have top contenders for gold on the long track.

On the short track, things aren't looking quite as bright, which is understandable considering the chaos that group is trying to overcome. 

More on the chaos and controversy in a moment. First, have a look at the vitals for the action.

Where: Sochi, Russia

Watch: NBC has the coverage on its various networks. Here is a link to NBC’s broadcast schedule.

Speedskating Schedule: View the full schedule at Sochi2014.com. Speedskating action will begin on Feb. 8 and conclude on Feb. 22. 

The short-track team is still trying to recover from the resignation of controversial coach Jae Su Chun, the suspension of a key skater and the void left by the retirement of legend Apolo Anton Ohno.

In case you're not up to speed on all the drama surrounding this group, the suspended skater is 2010 Olympic bronze medalist Simon Cho. He was suspended for good reason, as he admitted to tampering with a competitor's skate before an event.  

That wasn't all Cho had to say, either. He also added that he was instructed to do so by Su Chun.

That was far from the only allegation Chun has faced. No less than 12 Team USA short-track skaters accused Chun of physical and mental abuse.  

All of this understandably took its toll on the team. At the 2013 World Championships, the Americans won just three medals. 

I expect Sochi to go better for the Americans. 

On the women's side, Jessica Smith is the clear class of the team. She won the 500, 1,000 and 1,500 meters at the trials. 

At 30, this will be her first trip to the Olympics. She narrowly missed out in 2010, but she has made huge strides in the last four years. Chun is a huge reason why. In fact, she values his technical coaching so much that she's kept him on as a private coach. 

Now she is set to possibly bring back multiple medals, but she is not the short-track skaters' best medal hopeful. 

That honor belongs to J.R. Celski.  

He is just 23, but he's experienced. At the age of 19, he took home two bronze medals from the Vancouver Games after he bruised his femoral artery at the trials in a blood-gushing crash. 

After the 2010 Olympics, Celski took a year off from the ice. He came back a more mature competitor. 

Jared S. Hopkins of the Chicago Tribune passed along this quote from Celski on his return to the ice: "I developed this — I don't know, like a burning love almost inside of me that I just wanted to get up and I just wanted to skate every single day and get better."

Celski enters these Olympics as the 500-meter world record holder, and he's looked good recently. In fact, according to the Associate Press via ESPN, he only lost a single race during the U.S. trials.

I expect an outstanding Olympics from Celski, as he takes the mantle left open by Ohno and helps lead this team back to glory. 

Crash Course: Short-track speedskating Olympian J.R. Celski has proven he can bounce back from improbability. Prior to winning two bronze medals at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, Celski suffered a skate slash that cut his left leg to the bone, requiring 60 stitches. He caught a break when two South Korean skaters crashed in the 1,500-meter race, allowing him to take the bronze medal. He is a hip-hop fan with roots in Monterey, Calif. and Federal Way, Wash.

Sochi Dreams: Celski, 23, qualified for Sochi by winning the 500-, 1,000- and 1,500-meter short-track races at the U.S. Olympic Trials. Celski has a chance to be the next superstar in the sport that Apolo Anton Ohno previously dominated.

Athletic Profile: Celski also took home the bronze in the 5,000-meter relay in Vancouver. The speedskater won gold and set a world record in the 500-meter sprint in a 2012 World Cup event in Calgary. He garnered two golds, one silver and two bronze medals at the 2009 World Championships.

Injury History: Short-track speedskating can resemble roller derby as athletes battle for inside position while skating in tight circles. Celski suffered his deep gash at the 2009 U.S. Olympic Trials when he fell and smashed his right skate blade into his left quad. He also suffered a fractured ankle and torn ligaments in a December 2011 skating crash.

Social Profile: Celski has over 5,800 Instagram followers, over 26,000 Facebook fans and nearly 20,000 Twitter followers. His ability to return from major injuries has made him a sponsor's dream. Nike, Oakley, Liberty Mutual and TD Ameritrade are among the companies that back Celski.

Off the Ice: Celski took a year off from speedskating following the 2010 Olympics so he could produce a documentary called "The Otherside," a film about the hip-hop scene in Seattle. 

Quote: "I am excited. I know that this year is going to be a good year. We have a lot of good, healthy and talented guys coming up and I think we are going to be a force to reckon with around the world."—Celski to the Associated Press, via ESPN.

Some of the final spots on the U.S. Olympic team are on the line as short track speed skaters complete their trials in Kearns, Utah.

Sunday will be the fourth and final day of competition as the athletes plan to showcase their abilities in the 1000-meter event. The skaters have already gone through time trials and secured spots in the 1500-meter and 500-meter events.

While some sports simply have a single race to qualify, short track utilizes a point system for each distance, in which the leader is the one that earns the trip to Sochi. Here is a look at what each place is worth in a race, as well as the time trial:

This will help determine which skaters will be among the five men and three women who will be taking the trip to the 2014 Winter Olympics.

Here is a look at everything else you need to know for the final day of the competition.

When: Sunday, Jan. 5 at 4 - 6 p.m. ET

Where: Utah Olympic Oval in Kearns, Utah

Watch: NBC

Live Stream: NBC Sports Live Extra

Athletes to Watch

J.R. Celski

Although J.R. Celski has already qualified for a spot on the Olympic team, he has his eye on multiple medals in Sochi.

The 23-year-old skater earned a bronze at the 2010 Olympics in the 1500-meter competition as well as the 5000-meter relay. This time around, he could contend for at least one gold medal, if not more.

With the retired Apolo Anton Ohno out of the way, Celski will now look to take over as the star of the American team. He has experience and loads of talent that will carry him far in this sport.

If he does not let the pressure get to him, he can have a very successful 2014 campaign.

John-Henry Krueger

There were high expectations for John-Henry Krueger heading into the Olympic trials. Unfortunately, things have not gone according to plan over the first few days.

As Jared S. Hopkins of the Chicago Tribune notes, he struggled on the first day of racing:

Tony Chung then reported Krueger was forced to drop out of 500-meter:

Still, Krueger has plenty of ability if he is healthy enough to compete. Hopefully, the 18-year-old athlete will get a chance to make the Olympic team on the final day of trials.

Jessica Smith

Like Celski, Jessica Smith has already qualified for the Olympics thanks to some early success. However, there is no reason not to try to qualify for even more events if you get the chance.

Smith was only an alternate at the 2010 Games, but she is ready for her moment in the spotlight this time around:

Although the 1000-meter race is her worst event, she has proven her durability to excel in both long and short competitions. With great determination, she can keep up her winning ways.

The only question at this point is whether she can build off this success in America and win an Olympic medal.

Follow Rob Goldberg on Twitter for the latest breaking news and analysis.

As the U.S. Olympic squads begin to take shape, the men's and women's speedskating teams are conducting their trials from January 3-5 in Salt Lake City, Utah. This Saturday, the men's and women's short-track speedskating teams will compete in the 500m race, the shortest of three distances (the others being 1000-meter and 1500-meter). The winner of the event will receive an automatic Olympic berth.

The men qualified the maximum total allotment of five skaters (three per distance), but the women will unfortunately only be sending three skaters because of disqualification from the relay race. So what should we expect the teams to look like by the end of the weekend? Here is a complete preview for today's 500-meter short track trials.

Men's

J.R. Celski is the top medal hope not only for the men but for the entire U.S. speedskating team in this event. Celski took care of business on Thursday in the lap time trials, winning the nine-lap race with a time of 1 minute and 21.667 seconds and the four-lap 36.269 seconds. According to Associated Press, Celski believes he is rounding into form as he attempts to replace U.S. speedskating legend Apolo Anton Ohno:

"Very happy with the times," he said. "It will be fun to get back in there and race with these guys."

With short track star Apolo Anton Ohno retired and doing TV commentary, the spotlight is focused squarely on Celski, who won a pair of bronze medals at the 2010 Vancouver Games.

"It's a little different for sure," Celski said about Ohno's absence from the ice. "The level has raised over the past four years."

While the 23-year-old Celski is the most likely medal hope for the Americans, Eddy Alvarez also stands a reasonable shot of reaching the podium at Sochi. Alvarez, who earned a bronze medal in the event at the World Cup in Shanghai, missed out on the 2010 Vancouver games due to a pair of knee injuries.

Now healthy, Alvarez and Chris Creveling (who finished second behind Celski in both lap times) give the team multiple medal threats on the short track. The American men have dominated short track individual events in recent years, and even without Ohno, they figure to have a solid showing in Sochi.

Women's

The squeeze on the women's team makes the competition even tougher, as there are likely four leading candidates for three spots: Jessica Smith, Emily Scott, Alyson Dudek and Lana Gehring.

Smith is the leader, as she is the top U.S. skater in the World Cup rankings for all three distances. Smith is 21st in the world in the 500-meter, and she placed third in the 500-meter World Cup events at Salt Lake City and Shanghai. Smith was an alternate at the Vancouver games, and she uses that failure as motivation to perform at Sochi, per Joe Paisley of The Gazette:

Her failure to qualify for the 2010 Winter Olympics team still motivates her as Smith, 30, enters the trials in Kearns, Utah, Thursday through Sunday as the national record holder in the 500 meters and as a world championship medalist (one silver, two bronzes) the past three seasons.

"Everyone told me when I was younger to just enjoy the experience but I was a 12-year-old beating 17-year-olds to make the (inline) national team," she said. "I won gold at Pan Ams and worlds and had done everything I wanted in inline. Not making the (Vancouver) Olympic team was my first setback. I decided then that I would use that as motivation for the next four years."

Smith is likely the Americans' best hope to medal—though Scott and Gehring have both helped U.S. relay teams medal at previous World Cups. It's unfortunate that the relay team was disqualified, as the women earned bronze in the event in 2010.

Nevertheless, the three women who end up qualifying can atone for that mishap by breaking the United States' drought, as the American ladies have not medaled in a World Cup event since February 2012. Snapping that two-year streak begins this weekend with a strong tune-up ahead of the big stage next month.

The 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics are just around the corner, but the United States has yet to put together its 30-athlete speedskating team.

That will all change in the coming days, as skaters from around the country converge on Utah to prove their worth at the Olympic Trials.

For the first time ever, these events will be shown on both network and cable television, with NBC dedicating 13 hours of coverage to speedskating during the 11-day process.

President of NBC Olympics Gary Zenkel said in a U.S. Speedskating press release that the television coverage will offer fans of the sport a unique perspective:

“We are excited to present the speedskating Olympic Trials for the first time," Zenkel said. "Our extensive coverage gives fans a head start to follow the U.S. Olympians as they prepare for Sochi 2014.“

U.S. Speedskating President Mike Plant echoed Zenkel's sentiment in the release:

U.S. Speedskating is the most decorated Olympic winter sport in the United States with more than 85 Olympic medals. Having our 2014 U.S. Olympic Team Trials televised on NBC and NBC Sports Network are outstanding platforms on which to showcase the team we'll be sending to compete at the Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, Russia.

Let’s take a look at where you can catch all this exciting action leading up to the Sochi Games—which begin on Feb. 6 and run through Feb. 23—plus highlight a few athletes to keep an eye on during these thrilling trials.

When: Long-Track Trials: Dec. 27, 2013-Jan. 1, 2014, Short-Track Trials: Jan. 2-Jan. 5.

Where: Utah Olympic Oval, Kearns, Utah

Watch: NBC, NBC Sports Network

Live Stream: IceNetwork

Stars to Watch

J.R. Celski, Short Track

American short-track speedskating was left with a major void to fill when Apolo Anton Ohno elected to shut the door on any potential comeback in 2014. The eight-time medalist was the most popular and decorated speedskater in U.S. history, but decided to rule out a return at the age of 30.

Celski is the nation’s best hope to return to prominence in the sport, as the 23-year-old has enjoyed a quick rise through the ranks and is now poised to once again represent the Stars and Stripes in Russia.

The skater told Allen Schauffler of King 5 News that he is ready to take over as the leader of this team with Ohno out of the picture:

“It’s a big task. But I am mentally ready to step up and take that role. It’s going to be good. I’m hoping to lead this team to a lot of medals.”

While he was only able to secure two bronze medals in Vancouver (in the 1,50 -meters and relay) after recovering from a gruesome thigh injury during the U.S. trials, Celski recently set a world record in the 500 meters at the 2012 ISU Short Track World Cup.

Hopefully, Celski can stay healthy, set some records and bring home plenty of medals for the United States.

Shani Davis, Long Track

Sochi won’t be Davis’ first rodeo, as this long-track stud has arguably been the second-most popular speedskater in America over the last decade or so.

He’s the back-to-back defending gold medalist in the 1,000 meters, dominating the field at both Turin in 2006 and Vancouver in 2010.

Those aren’t Davis’ only Olympic medals. He also captured silver in the 1,500 meters at both Winter Games.

The 31-year-old holds the distinction of being the first black athlete from any nation to win a gold medal in an individual sport during the Winter Olympics after emerging victorious in the 1,000 meters in Turin.

Considering that Davis has won more than 50 World Cup events, this veteran speedskater is arguably America’s best shot at bringing home medals on the long track in Sochi.