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Winter Youth Olympic Games: Speed skater Peter Groseclose to see action in 1500m

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<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="Photo from Philippine Skating Union" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2024/life/01/19/20240119-via-philippineskating.jpg"/><figcaption>Photo from Philippine Skating Union</figcaption></figure></div>Speed skater Peter Groseclose plunges into action in the Fourth Winter Youth Olympic Games on Saturday morning at the 12,000-seater Gangneung Ice Arena in Gangwon, South Korea.Groseclose said the 1,500 meters of short track of speedskating is his weakest event, but stressed he’ll go for it no matter what.“To be honest, it is my weakest distance, but I’m not bad at it, I’m more of a sprinter and this is more of an endurance race,” said the 16-year-old Washington DC-based Groseclose on Friday.“But I will do my best and I can be competitive to it,” added Groseclose, who had to skip Friday’s opening ceremony so as not to tire himself for the first of his three events in these games.The games opened simultaneously at the Gangneung Oval and Pyeongchang Dome on Friday with freestyle skier Laetaz Amihan Rabe as the lone flag-bearer during the parade of athletes.Philippine Olympic Committee president Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino and secretary-general Atty. Wharton Chan and chef de mission Ada Milby attended the opening ceremony for the Games.He is coached in the US by Simon Cho but is being handled here by John-Henry Krueger, who clinched a speed skating silver for the US at the Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympics.“Short track is very unpredictable. So as a coach, I want him to focus on every race just one at a time and not thinking too far down the road,” said Krueger, who also shared the mixed team bronze medal as a naturalized athlete for Hungary in Beijing two years ago.“If that’s a good race, that’s great. If that’s bad, we have to focus on the next,” he said. “There’s no point looking far down the road as the field is too competitive.”Groseclose will compete against athletes from 33 other nations, with Jaehee Joo and Yousung Kim of host South Korea favored to top the podium.“The general consensus is [host] South Korea is the most powerful team in the World Cup junior competitions, but I’m really glad and ready to compete against them so let’s see,” Groseclose said.The 1500m—the longest in speedskating—is disputed among four to six athletes over a 111.111-meter oval. The event starts at 11 a.m. (10 a.m. in Manila).“These Youth Olympics happen once in a lifetime, they happen every four years and I’m glad to have this opportunity to get an experience and be part of this event,” said Groseclose, who will also see action in the the1000m on Sunday and 500m on Monday.The third athlete on Team Philippines, Avery Balbanida, is arriving at the venue on January 25 ahead of the cross-country skiing events on January 29 and 30.

Peter Groseclose plunges into action in the Fourth Winter Youth Olympic Games on Saturday morning at the Gangneung Ice Arena in Gangwon, South Korea.