So, I just saw Ohno win gold in the 500. On the starting line everyone started on the same line and he had the inside spot. Isn’t this an immediate unfair advantage over the others? How d they determine who gets the inside starting position?
The positions are chosen at random.
Getting from the outside to the inside is what makes some of the short track competitors better than others.
Coming from a former inline and shorttrack ice speedskater…
I’ll verify that starting positions are chosen at random but it really doesn’t make much of a difference during a race.
I personally preferred starting at the outside.
It makes a HUGE difference in the 500. Ohno probably only won that race because he had lane 1. There’s no way he’s a better 500 skater than the Korean guy. All the talk before the race was about how it was set up perfect for Ohno because he had Lane 1, and the Korean was out in lane 3 between two good starters from Canada.
I do shorttrack, too, and when I race against certain members of my club, how we finish in the 500 is usually only determined by where we start.
It makes much less of a difference in the 1000 and 1500 where drafting plays a more crucial role.
And, yes, a computer randomly assigns lane positions.