Baver is DQ'd in individual race, but gets medal in relay

VANCOUVER - Apolo Anton Ohno has built his name and legacy on the fickle and fortunate turns of short-track speedskating.

Allison Baver has been the poster child for its unrelentingly unfair and unforgiving nature.

Baver was disqualified during the first heat of last night's 1,000-meter run, ending any chance at her winning her first individual medal at these Olympics.

The night was salvaged for her when the United States 3,000-meter relay team won bronze. The Americans finished fourth, but made the podium after the original winner, South Korea, was disqualified.

For Baver, from Sinking Spring, it was her first medal in her three Olympics.

"We're sitting here right now, and it's like 'Oh my gosh we just won a bronze medal,' " she said during a news conference late last night. "But the hours and the time and everything that went into this medal, I can't even begin to explain. We could write a book about it. It's crazy. Yeah, there's a disqualification and we weren't sure but, we are just so happy that we won the bronze. It's amazing."

American Katherine Reutter set an Olympic record last night by winning her qualifying heat in 1 minute, 30.508 seconds, advancing to tomorrow's quarterfinals.

Baver was trying to come back from a brutal ankle injury suffered last February when she and Reutter tangled in the third lap of a race. It forced her to spend most of her pre-Olympic season rehabbing injuries to her ankle and knee, and these Olympics were supposed to be her reward.

"I'm not really sure what happened to Allison," Reutter said. "Some kind of bumping, and there was a DQ. I'm really sorry to hear that, because I think we have one of the deepest teams the U.S. has ever had.

"Honestly, I don't want to blame it on luck, but it does seem like little things keep coming up and happening to one person or another, things that we don't entirely have control of. Which is the worst part of this sport. Sometimes you don't have control, and that's the worst thing."

Another American, Kimberly Derrick, placed third in her heat and failed to advance. *

- Sam Donnellon