Another tough day for American long track in the women's 1000 m event.
What was expected to be a battle for the gold between Heather Richardson and Brittany Bowe never materialized as the duo finished 7th and 8th respectively.
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Sugar Todd and Kelly Gunther finished 32 and 33 respectively.
The far less than expected showing brings into serious question the rumors of their skin suits hindering their performance.
To their credit, the athletes have taken the high road and shouldered the blame while giving due credit to the medal winners, but when not one skater is skating up to expectations it has to raise some eyebrows.
Even if not at peak performance, the severe drop in placements across the board simply does not make sense. Something is amiss. Finishing down a few placements from normal happens occasionally, but dropping five to 10 spots across the board is simply out of the ordinary.
I know many of these athletes and have watched them grow up throughout their online skating careers and they have always shined brightest on the biggest stages.
This is not to take away from those who have won the medals as on this stage, you earn what you get, and I'm certain all the competitors have worked very hard and sacrificed an awful lot.
But here is hoping the American athletes can somehow get a shot in their previous skin suits to if nothing else clear the air on this situation.
Short track men looked strong as all three guys qualified out of their heats in the 1000 meter and the relay team looked great until a fall took them out of the qualifying position only to be advanced after the Korean team was disqualified.
Robb Dunn is an inline speed skating coach who is in Sochi, Russia to see two of his former players compete in speed skating. Kelly Gunther and Jessica Smith are both competing in speed skating, but started their careers in inline skating with Dunn in metro Detroit before transitioning to the ice. Dunn is blogging for Local 4 about his Olympic experience and what's happening in the sport at the Adler Arena Skating Center in Sochi, Russia.