No more feuding? Short-trackers come together with eye on gold

SALT LAKE CITY -- The American short-trackers can admit it now: Things were a little testy in the weeks leading up to the Olympic Games.

How else could it be? Two skaters were accused of fixing a race, and one of their teammates backed up the allegations. Then they all had to come together in Salt Lake City with a common goal -- winning the gold medal.

Judging from their first race together, the Americans have patched things up just fine. Led by Apolo Anton Ohno, they swept to victory in the semifinals of the 5,000-meter relay Wednesday night, earning a spot in the Sept. 23 final.

Individually, Ohno and Rusty Smith both advanced in their 1,000 heats, with Smith setting an Olympic record in the process.

"As soon as the gun went off, all our guys came together," Ohno said.

Expected to be one of America's biggest stars at these games, Ohno was at the center of race-fixing allegations made by a skater who didn't qualify for the team.

Tommy O'Hare, a 1998 Olympian, accused Ohno and Smith of working together during the trials to make sure their friend, Shani Davis, made the team at O'Hare's expense.

Another skater, Ron Biondo, backed up O'Hare's claims, which was especially inflammatory since Biondo made the U.S. team as a member of the relay.

An arbitrator ruled there wasn't enough evidence to support the charges, and O'Hare withdrew his complaint. In the meantime, the teammates already were training together in Colorado Springs.

"At first, things were tense in Colorado -- I can't lie about that," Biondo said. "It was a tough situation with the arbitration going on and all. It was tough to skate those first couple of days."

The team did its final Olympic preparations at a rink in Calgary, Canada. That's where things started to change, according to Biondo.

"We went there before the games and started loosening up," he said. "When we got off the plane in Salt Lake City, we said, 'We can't blow this off. Let's not act like little kids. Let's grow up."'

They certainly acted like a team on the opening night of short track, tapping knuckles before the relay and hugging each other after Ohno cruised across the line ahead of the Italians.

"We all know what we have to do," Smith said after the team practiced Thursday at a small rink on the University of Utah campus. "Hard feelings aside, we're the world champions representing the United States in our home country. We'll do what we need to do."

Smith insisted that he's getting along just fine with the other skaters, including Biondo. They've been eating together and hanging out as a group in the Olympic Village

"You don't have to be friends to do this sport, but we are," Smith said. "We get along fine. We're all about the same age. We all like a lot of the same things."

The fourth member of the relay, Daniel Weinstein, has been an impartial observer to the whole mess. He hasn't noticed any tensions since the team arrived in Salt Lake City.

"It was just a disagreement," he said. "I don't see any lost friendships or anything like that. We left that behind in Colorado."

Biondo, who fretted that he would be shunned by Ohno and Smith, has a different view now that they're all at the Olympics.

"I've been with these guys since I was 10 years old, so a week or two or 10 days isn't going to be a problem," Biondo said. "Everyone talks about it, but I believe it is completely behind us. We're looking for medals now."