Story posted Friday, February 26, 2010
Lana Bronzes At Olympic Games
By TOM ROBB Journal & Topics Reporter
Lana Gehring of Glenview (second from right) and teammates celebrate winning the bronze medal in the Short Track Speed Skating Ladies 3000m relay on Feb. 24.
A local Olympian delivered the goods and will bring a bronze medal back home to Glenview after the games.
"Oh my God, we're 19 and we have medals!" Lana Gehring, a 2009 Glenbrook South High School graduate and new Olympic short track speed skating bronze medalist told her roommate in Olympic Village in Vancouver, just hours after taking third in the women's short track 3,000-meter relay finals.
The race against powerhouse teams China, South Korea and Canada was an emotional rollercoaster for Gehring.
"When we crossed the finish line we knew we got fourth. We were so shocked," Gehring told the Journal in a telephone interview from Vancouver. "Everyone had such a fast race. We were so down and then the coaches said to come over."
Though the U.S. team crossed the finish line last, a South Korean skater "impeded" a Chinese skater during the race disqualifying the entire South Korean team that had crossed the finish line first. With the disqualification, China took the gold, Canada the silver and the U.S. the bronze.
"I was in a state of shock, then we took the (American) flag," said Gehring. "It's not the way we wanted to finish but we'll take it."
"We deserved it," Gehring continued. "We worked so hard and that's how it happens in short track."
Gehring was on the outside at the start of the race.
One NBC commentator who was calling the race said Gehring was off to a "weak start." Gehring said that was the plan all along.
"The plan was to start slow and hang back and pass to win," said Gehring.
She said that strategy of hanging back and exploding at the end had greatly benefited U.S. speed skater Apollo Anton Ohno in his races.
The relay is Gehring's favorite event. "It's a different mind set in relays, everyone's thinking of everyone else...I love that race," said Gehring. "It's a bonding experience skating together."
"I can't wait to come home," she added.
A homecoming will have to wait until April. Gehring said she plans to compete in the short track world championships in Bulgaria in mid-March, "then I'll rest."
"We really couldn't be more proud," said Glenbrook South High School Principal Brian Wegley.
"It is truly exciting for our community to have such a personal connection to this global event through these fine young Olympians," said Glenview Village President Kerry Cummings in a written statement Friday, Feb. 26. "We look forward to celebrating with both (2009 GBS graduate and fellow Olympic speed skating medalist) Brian Hansen and Lana and recognizing their achievements at a future date when they return home to Glenview!"
Wegley said he has been in talks with Cummings to coordinate a celebratory event.
Hansen appeared before the Glenview Village Board last year after medaling and breaking a junior world record at a championship meet in Poland.
Gehring spent her high school career commuting between Glenview and the Olympic Training Center in Salt Lake City Utah where she trained with the U.S. Short Track Speed Skating team.
Gehring would spend one semester at GBS and one at a high school in Utah while traveling the far corners of the earth to compete in international competitions.
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