More than 200 of the world’s best short track speedskaters from 34 nations will compete in the final International Skating Union (ISU) World Cup before the Olympic Winter Games. The action takes place Thursday through Sunday, Nov. 12-15, at the Berry Events Center. Weekend races will be nationally and internationally televised. Versus, a sports cable network reaching more than 73 million households, has just announced it will tape Saturday's and Sunday’s competition for use in a pair of two-hour highlight shows. They will air at 10:30 p.m. ET Saturday and 10 p.m. Sunday, with rebroadcasts at 1 a.m. Sunday and Monday. Saturday and Sunday will be televised live in China and Korea. “We are extremely pleased to have Versus provide coverage to the Olympic, speedskating and sports fans across America, as well as to have broadcasts going live to China and Korea,” said Jeff Kleinschmidt, director of the USOEC. “It’s another chance for NMU and the community to demonstrate to a national and international television audience how exciting we make sports events here in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula – like we did when we packed the Superior Dome for the national broadcast of the NMU-Michigan Tech football game last year. Only this time we’ll be packing the Berry and the audience will be global.” This year’s World Cup is the final event for nations to qualify skaters for February’s Olympic Games in Vancouver, making it one of the most important and biggest competitions of 2009. “We will have more skaters and more nations here than will be competing in the Games. Most skaters have to earn their chance to skate in Vancouver right here in Marquette. There are only so many slots available at each race distance for the Olympic Games and skaters get those slots by their performances in the four World Cup competitions leading up to the Games,” said Kleinschmidt. Thursday’s action will begin around 11:45 a.m. and Friday’s around noon, with the expectation that both nights will conclude between 8:30 and 9 p.m. Saturday’s action is scheduled from 12:20-6 p.m. and Sunday’s from 12:30-6:30 p.m., including the awards ceremony. All times are subject to change, depending on the number of races required to accommodate the final competition field. The field currently includes skaters from the following nations: Australia, Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Chinese Taipei, Croatia, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Great Britain, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Mongolia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, South Africa, South Korea, Sweden, Ukraine and the United States. For more information, go to www.goldrushskate.com. To order tickets, go to www.nmu.edu/tickets, call 906-227-1032 or visit any NMU EZ ticket outlet. |
