World Speed Skating Championships:

Colombia 2007

Medal Tally

Summary: As the TV announcers in Cali were fond of proclaiming: Colombia, Colombia, Colombia! ... With two golds and two silvers, the host nation moved ahead even further in the medal count in the final day of racing. South Korea, which had challenged early, faded in the road events and barely managed to hang on to second place. Challenging it was Italy, which finished third. A long ways back was USA in fourth. The team would have done far worse without its star, Joey Mantia, who won most of its golds. The team's lack of depth, especially in the junior (under 18) division, suggests a less golden future.

Daily Summaries

Rank	Country	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Colombia	14	16	9	39
2	South Korea	10	7	12	29
3	Italy	6	14	8	28
4	USA	10	3	4	17
5	France	1	3	2	6
6	New Zealand	1	2	3	6
7	Belgium	2	1	1	4
8	China Taipei	2		1	3
9	Australia	1	1	1	3
10	Argentina		2	1	3
11	Venezuela			2	2
11	Holland			2	2
13	Germany	1			1
14	Chile			1	1

Daily Summaries:

Day 1: After one day of racing, Colombia and Italy have the same number of medals (6) but the host nation holds a slight lead due the higher luster of its hardware. On the other hand, Korea has more golds (3) than anyone else.

Day 2: After two days of racing, Colombia still has a slight lead in the medal count, but South Korea is gaining and has nearly nice Colombia's golds. Meanwhile, Italy slips to third; USA holds in fourth with Joey Mantia providing the only medals; and New Zealand moves into fourth with a smart win by Nicole Begg in the 1000 meters.

Day 3: After three days of racing (with the track events over), Colombia continues to hold a slight lead over South Korea in the medal count. Italy remains in third but could close the gap in the road events, which start Wednesday and in which the Italians are traditionally strong. USA remains solidly in fourth place. It will need more than Mantia's legs to move up the chart.

Day 4: After four days of racing, Colombia sits alone atop the medal chart. Its three gold medals Wednesday brought it even with South Korea in that department. Several other countries found success Wednesday, which was the first day of track racing: Belgium won two golds; France and Australia both won their first. But Italy and USA, the only two teams who might be able to challenge the leaders, found only limited success.

Day 5: The combination of Mantia-Bowe brought USA within striking distance of the leaders in the gold medal count. But Colombia continued to pad its lead in the overall count, winning seven medals (including two golds) on Thursday, the fifth day of racing at the World Championships. South Korea had another lackluster day (three medals) and continued to lose ground to Colombia. Meanwhile, Italy grabbed six medals to maintain its standing in third place overall.

Day 6: With only one event contested, little changed on the medal chart Friday. France took over sole possession of fifth place with a bronze in the men's relay. USA won big in the senior relays, but that didn't bring it any closer to third-place Italy, which scored medals of each luster. As for Colombia, it soldiered on, winning its own set to push further ahead of second-place South Korea.

Day 7: With only one event contested, little changed on the medal chart Friday. France took over sole possession of fifth place with a bronze in the men's relay. USA won big in the senior relays, but that didn't bring it any closer to third-place Italy, which scored medals of each luster. As for Colombia, it soldiered on, winning its own set to push further ahead of second-place South Korea.

Day 8: As the TV announcers in Cali were fond of proclaiming: Colombia, Colombia, Colombia! With two golds and two silvers, the host nation pushed ahead even further in the medal count in the final day of racing. South Korea, which had challenged early, faded in the road events and barely managed to hang on to second place. Challenging it was Italy, which finished third. A long ways back was USA in fourth. The team would have finished a lot further back without its star, Joey Mantia, who won most of its golds. The team's lack of depth, especially in the junior (under 18) division, suggests a less prominent future.

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