Rusty Smith (born August 27, 1979) is a

short track speed skater Short-track speed skating is a form of competitive ice speed skating. In competitions, multiple skaters (typically between four and six) skate on an oval ice track with a length of . The rink itself is long by wide, which is the same size as a ...

from the United States who won bronze in the 500m at the

2002 Winter Olympics The 2002 Winter Olympics, officially the XIX Olympic Winter Games and commonly known as Salt Lake 2002 ( arp, Niico'ooowu' 2002; Gosiute Shoshoni: ''Tit'-so-pi 2002''; nv, Sooléí 2002; Shoshoni: ''Soónkahni 2002''), was an internation ...

in Salt Lake City and another bronze in the 5000m relay at the

2006 Winter Olympics The 2006 Winter Olympics, officially the XX Olympic Winter Games ( it, XX Giochi olimpici invernali) and also known as Torino 2006, were a winter multi-sport event held from 10 to 26 February 2006 in Turin, Italy. This marked the second t ...

in Turin.

Olympic qualification race controversy

In December 2001,

Shani Davis Shani Earl Davis (; born August 13, 1982) is an American former speed skater. At the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy, Davis became the first African American athlete to win a gold medal in an individual event at the Olympic Winter Games, w ...

traveled to Utah to race for a spot on the

short track team. Teammates Smith and

Apolo Ohno Apolo Anton Ohno (; born May 22, 1982) is an American retired short track speed skating competitor and an eight-time medalist (two gold, two silver, four bronze) in the Winter Olympics. Ohno is the most decorated American at the Winter Olympics ...

already had slots on the six-man team due to points earned from earlier races, and Ron Biondo was a lock for the third spot. In order for Davis to qualify, he would have to actually ''win'' the final race. As both Ohno and Smith were also participating, Davis would have to beat them both. Since Ohno had been dominant in the meet to this point, winning every race he entered with ease, a win by Davis seemed to be a long shot. However, the 1,000m race would end with Ohno coming in third, Smith second and Davis at the top of the podium. However, the victory was short-lived, as rumors began to swirl that Ohno and Smith, both good friends of Davis', intentionally threw the race so that Davis would win.Price, S.L. (2002)
"Launch of Apolo "
SI.com (accessed May 24, 2007) After returning to

Colorado Springs Colorado Springs is a home rule municipality in, and the county seat of, El Paso County, Colorado, United States. It is the largest city in El Paso County, with a population of 478,961 at the 2020 United States Census, a 15.02% increase since ...

, O'Hare would file a formal complaint. For three days, Ohno, Smith and Davis stood before an arbitration panel as three of their fellow skaters testified that they heard Ohno telling Smith that he was going to let Davis win. Ohno would later confess that he subconsciously held back for fear of suddenly crashing into Davis or Smith, a common occurrence in the sport, pointing out that he did not need to win the race because he already had a spot on the team. Question persisted that if Ohno had really held back, why did he keep passing Ron Biondo? Some speculated that Ohno was holding off Biondo from challenging Smith, as Smith ''also'' needed to finish ahead of Biondo in order to secure a spot in the 1000m for Salt Lake. Even this scenario would have been a violation of the rules of team skating. Both claims went unproven in the arbitration case, and all three were absolved of guilt. On February 13, 2002 ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twic ...

'' writer Brian Cazeneuve published an article stating that, after reviewing the race, "To this day, there is no concrete proof that any skaters violated the spirit of competition." Cazeneuve would, however, also publish the comments of Outside Life Network commentator Todd Harris and 1998 Winter Olympian speed skater

Eric Flaim Eric Joseph Flaim (born March 9, 1967) is an American former speed skater. He became a world champion in 1988, as well as capturing Olympic silver medals, namely in speed skating at the 1988 Winter Olympics and in short track speed skating at t ...

, which were made during the broadcast of the race; both men agreed that Ohno and Smith had not skated at 100%.

Notes

External links

Rusty's U.S. Olympic Team bio
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Rusty 1979 births Living people American male short track speed skaters Olympic bronze medalists for the United States in short track speed skating Short track speed skaters at the 1998 Winter Olympics Short track speed skaters at the 2002 Winter Olympics Short track speed skaters at the 2006 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 2002 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 2006 Winter Olympics