'A tactical mistake' frustrates Baver in 1,500 meters

VANCOUVER - Allison Baver was knocked into a wall again. This time she got up, continued to skate, and advanced into Saturday's 1,500-meter semifinals anyway, through the arcane rules of short-track speedskating.

And then: "A tactical mistake," she said. She let too many skaters move ahead of her, too many for her to make a charge at the end.

"I wish I would have just slapped myself in the face and reminded myself to take control of the race and be in front of certain girls," said Baver, a native of the Reading suburb of Sinking Spring. "Usually I skate a lot more aggressively, from the front. Part of it was my confidence a little bit. That split-second when I wanted to go to the front I was like, 'Oooh.' I just wasn't sure of myself. And I think that just comes with my injury a little bit. Not knowing my body 100 percent."

A quick refresher: Last February, Baver broke her right ankle and her fibula and suffered cartilage damage when she was knocked off her feet and into the boards by U.S. teammate Katherine Reutter during a World Cup race in Sofia, Bulgaria. She didn't walk again until May, didn't return to the U.S. team until June, didn't qualify for the Olympics until September.

Reutter finished fourth Saturday night. She, too, reached the finals despite a semifinal collision, and was involved in contact in the final race as well.

Baver will have two other chances to medal - in the 1,000 meters, which begin on Wednesday and finish Friday, and the women's 3,000-meter relay Wednesday night.

"I wish I would have just went with my instincts in my semifinal," she said. "I hate that I made that mistake . . . Hopefully this will give me the fire to step it up in my other races."