Fire on ice: Fil-Am skater wins bronze medal in Vancouver

Fil-Am short track speedskater John Robert “J.R." Celski gave the Philippines something to cheer about in the Winter Olympics when he copped the bronze medal in the men’s 1,500-meter competitions of the Games in Vancouver, Canada. The 19-year-old son of an American-Polish father and a Filipino mother clocked 2:18.053 in the finals to place third while Lee Jung-su of Korea grabbed the gold with 2:17.611 and Apolo Anton Ohno, also of the US, took runner-up honors with 2:17.976.

Celski, who is competing in his first event since a gruesome crash at the U.S. trials five months ago sliced his left thigh to the bone, benefited from a crash suffered by Lee’s compatriots. Lee appeared leading a Korean sweep of the medal podium until two of his teammates, Sung Si-bak and Lee Ho-suk, tangled and crashed into a padded barrier on the final turn, allowing Ohno to go from fourth position to second, and paving the way for Celski’s bronze finish. "It was amazing. I had no idea what happened," the Associated Press quoted Celski as saying about the Koreans' crash. "I just tried to stay on my feet. It was such a blur." Ohno and Celski’s medals were the first for the US contingent in the ongoing Vancouver Games. It was all the more special for Ohno, who earned his sixth Olympic medal to tie long-track speedskater Bonnie Blair as the most successful U.S. Winter Olympian. Celski won two gold, one silver and two bronze medals in last year’s world championships. he will get a chance to add up to the collection in Vancouver when he competes in the men’s 5,000m relay and 1,000m relay events on Feb. 17. The Fil-Am skater is the youngest son of Robert, who is of Polish descent and Sue, who is of Filipino descent. A former in-line skater, Celski missed the minimum age requirement for the 2006 Winter Olympics by 17 days, making the Vancouver joust his first Olympic foray. – GMANews.TV with reports from AP