En-route to Incheon

Roi and I just landed in Bangkok, Thailand. En route to Incheon, Korea where we will be participating in a skating festival and marathon - courtesy of Gyro Wheels and Endless-Roll Israel.

The event is part of the KIC - Korea Inline Cup, and I am quiet sure this is the first time Israeli speedskaters will be participating. The race is on the 9th of September, so be sure to check back for results and reports!
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Results are in!

I just managed to pull up the official Senior Men Marathon Results of the www.cali2007rollersport.com website, and I did much, MUCH better than I thought. At 56 place, out of 105, I'm nearly smack in the middle of the list. Placed ahead of quiet a few athletes from Colombia, The USA and South Korea, who had impressive results in all the other races. That just goes to show how far a little bit of perseverance can take you.

Here is a copy of the results, in case the official site goes down:

POS	NUM	DELEGATION	NAME AND SURNAME	MEDAL
1	120	United States - Estados Unidos	JOSEPH MANTIA R.	ORO/GOLD
2	85	Italy - Italia	LUCA SAGGIORATO	PLATA/SILVER
3	83	Italy - Italia	FRANCESCO ZANGARINI	BROCE/BRONZE
4	84	Italy - Italia	GREGORIO DUGGENTO
5	86	Italy - Italia	LUCA PRESTI
6	53	France - Francia	YANN GUYADER
7	39	Colombia - Colombia	JULIAN ANDRES RIVERA MENDOZA
8	40	Colombia - Colombia	NELSON GARZON ORDONEZ
9	52	France - Francia	THOMAS BOUCHER
10	68	Holland - Holanda	SJOERD HUISMAN
11	115	Spain - Espana	NICOLAY GARIKOITZ LERGA
12	125	Venezuela - Venezuela	DANIEL ALVAREZ
13	37	Colombia - Colombia	JORGFE LUIS CIFUENTES MENDEZ
14	137	Switzerland - Suiza	SEVERIN WIDMES
15	117	Switzerland - Suiza	NICOLAS ITEN
16	33	China Taipei - China Taipei	WEI-LIN LO
17	57	Germany - Alemania	PASCAL RAMALI
18	38	Colombia - Colombia	JUAN NAYIB TOBON CUERO
19	121	United States - Estados Unidos	JOSHUA WOOD R.
20	129	Venezuela - Venezuela	JOSE A. BASTIDAS
21	116	Switzerland - Suiza	ADRIAN LEEMANN
22	51	France - Francia	JULIEN SOURRISSEAU
23	1	Argentina - Argentina	DAMIAN FERNANDEZ
24	94	New Zealand - Nueva Zelanda	REYON KAY
25	2	Argentina - Argentina	DAVID SIANO
26	128	Venezuela - Venezuela	JAVIER OYALBIS
27	49	France - Francia	FABIEN HASCOET
28	5	Argentina - Argentina	RUBEN MARTINEZ
29	56	Germany - Alemania	NICO WIEDUWILT
30	126	Venezuela - Venezuela	FABRIZIO ERVITTI
31	87	Italy - Italia	MATTEO AMABILI
32	118	United States - Estados Unidos	JAMES CHEEK M.
33	31	China Taipei - China Taipei	LI-TSE TANG
34	63	Guatemala - Guatemala	EDY EDUARDO CAROL VILLATORO GOMEZ
35	77	Iran - Iran	AMIRREZA BAHRAENI MOGHADAM
36	47	Ecuador - Ecuador	LUIS CHICAIZA
37	42	Costa Rica	ALBERT ARCE
38	76	Iran - Iran	AMIN MOHAZEBNIA
39	17	Brazil - Brasil	GELBERTO VELOSO
40	101	Poland - Polonia	BARTOSZ PISAREK
41	64	Guatemala - Guatemala	MARCO VINICIO TZUL LOPEZ
42	91	Mexico - Mexico	MARCOS MOTTA SANCHEZ
43	44	Costa Rica	JHONSON ROJAS
44	103	South Africa - Sudafrica	MARCEL LOUW
45	74	India - India	SATHI BRAHMA TEJA
46	21	Canada - Canada	SERGIO ALMERALLA CALVA
47	15	Brazil - Brasil	EDINAZIO DE OLIVEIRA
48	16	Brazil - Brasil	EDSON ALMEIDA
49	102	South Africa - Sudafrica	BRIAN BALOYI
51	60	Great Britain - Gran Bretana	GRUIN POLLOCK
52	75	India - India	VIKRAM BACHU JAGANATH
53	30	China Taipei - China Taipei	CHUNG - WEI CHIANG
54	140
55	99	Pakistan - Pakistan	MEHER EJAZ AHMED
56	81	Israel - Israel	BOAZ ARAD
57	100	Panama - Panama	GABRIEL ALEXANDER CISNEROS GóMEZ
58	71	India - India	DEO SUYASH SUNEEL
59	70	Hong Kong - Hong Kong	DANIEL YEE KAI YEOW
60	61	Great Britain - Gran Bretana	SIMON DAVIS
61	69	Hong Kong - Hong Kong	BONE HO CHEUNG LEE
62	50	France - Francia	JULIEN DESPAUX
62	104	South Korea - Korea del Sur	HOUN HE LEE
63	122	United States - Estados Unidos	JUSTIN STELLY J.
64	112	Spain - Espana	FRANCISCO JOSE PEULA CABELLO
65	65	Holland - Holanda	MARK HORSTEN
66	12	Belgium - Belgica	FERRE SPRUYT
67	119	United States - Estados Unidos	JONATHAN GARCIA A.
68	123	United States - Estados Unidos	SEBASTIAN CANO
69	35	Colombia - Colombia	CAMILO ANDREZ OROZCO FUENTES
70	73	India - India	MARUVADA CHAITANYA
71	98	New Zealand - Nueva Zelanda	WAYNE BEGG
72	89	Mexico - Mexico	ALAN CORONADO FIGUEROA
73	11	Australia - Australia	SAMUEL EVANS
74	7	Australia - Australia	COREY PRICE
75	130	Venezuela - Venezuela	JUAN JOSE JARDINE
76	18	Brazil - Brasil	PAULO MARQUEZ
77	133	Cuba - Cuba	TONY GARCIA ACUNA
78	55	Germany - Alemania	MATTHIAS SCHWIERZ
79	54	Germany - Alemania	DENNIS DRESSEL
80	107	South Korea - Korea del Sur	MYUNG KYU LEE
81	58	Germany - Alemania	VICTOR WILKING
82	66	Holland - Holanda	MICHEL MULDER
83	3	Argentina - Argentina	EZEQUIEL CAPELLANO
84	4	Argentina - Argentina	GONZALO SEGUEL
85	6	Australia - Australia	ANDREW FINSTER
86	9	Australia - Australia	EDWARD DIMMACK
87	14	Brazil - Brasil	DOUGLAS DONATO C
88	28	China - China	HUO JIAMING
89	32	China Taipei - China Taipei	PEI-HSUAN HO
90	34	China Taipei - China Taipei	YEN-SHENG LIAO
91	41	Colombia - Colombia	OSWALDO SAEZ PERNETT
92	43	Costa Rica	ALVARO GUZMAN
93	48	Ecuador - Ecuador	PEDRO COELLAR
94	59	Great Britain - Gran Bretana	CHRISSTOPHER STAFFOR
95	67	Holland - Holanda	RONALD MULDER
96	82	Italy - Italia	FABIO FRANCOLINI
97	93	New Zealand - Nueva Zelanda	PETER HOMBURG
98	95	New Zealand - Nueva Zelanda	SCOTT ARLIDGE
99	96	New Zealand - Nueva Zelanda	SHANE DOBBIN
100	97	New Zealand - Nueva Zelanda	SHAUN PERKINSON
101	105	South Korea - Korea del Sur	JUN HEE LEE
102	106	South Korea - Korea del Sur	MIN HO KIM
103	109	South Korea - Korea del Sur	YOO JONG NAM
104	124	Venezuela - Venezuela	ALEJANDRO SILVA
105	136	Switzerland - Suiza	RAPHAEL PFULG

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Finally - The Marathon!

World Inline Speedskating Championships, Cali, Colombia.

Yesterday I raced the marathon in Cali, it was the race I was most anticipating to race. Even more so after I was unable to complete the full leanght of any other long distance race during the championships.

The day began with pouring rain, all the skaters, myself included, changed over to rain wheels. The junior ladies skated in the rain. Followed by the junior men who skated in the remaining mud. Senior ladies skated in rather dry condition, and finally, for me in the senior mens division, the road was completely dry, and the sun came out - way out.

After waiting for over four hours for the previous races, we finally lined up on the staring line. There was quiet a crowd lining the street from both sides for as far as the eye could see. Excitement mounted as the motorbikes took their place, and the official judges gave out final instructions.

Without much warning, we were off. Due to the huge amount of skaters and tight quarters, the start of this race was snail paced compared to all the other I participated in during the worlds. I manged to get in the pack, and kept the pace for a few kilometers.

A tight turn with a wet strip at the apex nearly sent me to the ground. A quick jump averted the disaster. As the pack began to shuffle and pick up the pace, I began to fade farther and farther into the back of it. After another kilometer or two, I finally lost the last skater - staying in the pack for what I estimate was no more than 6-8 kilometers.

I skated alone for a kilometer or two, during which a Chinese Taipei skater began catching up with me from behind. I tried to fall in behind him and take advantage of the draft, but he clipped my skate as I was moving in behind him - nearly sending me to the ground again. By the time I recovered, he was long gone.

After that, a pack of Indian skaters, along with one from Hong Kong, caught up with me. I joined them, and together we caught up with a Costa-Rican skater that subsequently joined our pack. After changing leads for a while. All the skaters in the pack faded back but one Indian skater that stayed with me.

We changed leads for 12 kilometers or so, but towards the end my new partner began loosing power, and pulling less and less. I finally decided to take my chances, and pick up the pace at the price of loosing my drafting partner. He held on to me for a few kilometers, staying in my draft, but faded a short while later. If your reading this #71 - Thanks for the pull!

At this point, less than halfway through the race, I found myself alone, in blistering heat, and battling wind that seemed to always blow opposite to my direction of travel, regardless of which way the road was going. In other words - exactly like I was used to training in Israel :)

Even tough I was slow and alone, the thinner crowd along this section of country road cheered me along waving flags, yelling "go Israel" or "Vamos Israel, Fuerte!", making me feel great and giving me the energy to keep going.

As I was skating alone, I saw quiet a few pro skaters who had lost the pack and given up. I saw skaters from New-Zealand, Australia and more. These pros, who beat me in every race up to now, were going to lose their placing in the marathon to me - simply because I had the willpower to continue regardless of my final placing, and they didn't.

When I finally reached the finish line, the crowed cheered me in, even though I arrived over half an hour after the first skater. Crossing the finish line I felt amazing. I had a good race, and probably scored my best placement in the worlds so far.
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More news coverage!

World Inline Speedskating Championships, Cali, Colombia.

On the 25th, the "El-Pais" (translates as: The Country) newspaper published a full page article about me in the sports section. This time the main point of interest was the fact that my mother was born in Bogota.

Click the picture to see the full article. You might also notice, that beside the main article, there is a small "spotlight" section on Joey Mantia (upper left). I really got a kick out of seeing my picture plastered on a whole page, while Joey got a passport picture sized square :)
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20K Elimination Race

World Inline Speedskating Championships, Cali, Colombia. 

I just got off the track after the 20K Elimination race. Keeping in mind what I have learned from competing with all these world class skaters the past few days - I started as fast as I could (which still opened a gap between me and the skater in front of me) and dived into the pack full force.

By the time I cleared the first curve, I couldn't believe it, but I was in the pack. Not tailgating the last two skater, but actually in the pack, with about 10 skaters behind me. Keeping up to race speed was much easier in the pack, but I quickly found out that I have a lot to learn about pack dynamics. Every few seconds the pack would shuffle, and it seemed like everybody knew exactly were to go but me. Every time this happened, a skater or two would pass me, and then I would catch up, sometimes riding in two of my overtaker.

After about two or three laps of this, the pack behind me began getting quiet thin, and I lost my draft during a pack shuffle. On my own now, I took comfort in the fact that I saw at least one Indian skater behind me. I then focused all my energy, both mental and physical on staying ahead of him, and not being lapped out before the next elimination.

"Push, Reach, Push. Keep your hands of you knees, stay low, repeat". This mantra kept me going for about three more laps against a vicious headwind, until the anticipated elimination got me off the track. When I got off, I counted at least four skaters that were already waiting on the sidelines.

Having improved the amount of laps I actually managed to skate, and maybe even my overall ranking compared to the last race, I'm quiet happy with the results. The official ranking has not yet been posted, I´ll be sure to update when they are.
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Local Media Star

World Inline Speedskating Championships, Cali, Colombia.

The local media is making quiet an issue about the fact that I am here in Cali alone. Pumping the angle that I function as Delegation leader, Coach, Photographer, Skater Etc. Today I had another TV interview, during which they insisted on shooting some videos of me taking pictures of myself.

I've uploaded quiet a few new pictures, mostly of the 10K and 500's.
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500m Road Race

World Inline Speedskating Championships, Cali, Colombia.

This morning I raced the quarter finals for 500m track. I was up against athletes from the USA, France, Brazil and Mexico. The first two of each heat qualify for the semifinals. I had a good start, nearly hanging on to the pack for about 2/3 of a lap (the whole race is 1.25 laps). Eventually I lost them completely, and continued to concentrate on getting the best time I could.

Being last in my heat, I did not qualify for the semifinal, but I think I had a good run, and I have a feeling that I won't be last when the final results are announced (disqualified athletes are ranked by the qualifying runs time).

Tonight I race the 20K Points Elimination Road Race, and I'm hoping to do better than the 10K last night.
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