IN FOCUS…
MEET THE MEN BEHIND THE LENS WHO BRING SPEEDSKATING IMAGES AND LIVE
ACTION TO THE FANS By Linda Jager It’s been called everything from the
“Fastest Sport on Ice” to “NASCAR on Ice,” but one thing is certain – capturing that fast-paced action on camera takes a spe- cial skill, and dire passion for the sport. Here, meet four men who have both, and who bring you the images from rinks across the country and across the globe.
Tony Chung Tony Chung is changing the way fans watch short track – one webcast at a time. Frustrat- ed by the lack of television coverage of his favorite sport,
Chung took matters into his own hands almost two years ago when he launched his first
ShortTrackHD.com live webcast on UStream (
http://www.ustream.tv/ user/shorttrackhd).
“One of the main issues with short
track speedskating is the lack of televi- sion coverage,” explained Chung. Though his UStream channel, fans can have ac- cess to the best in short track racing, and watch what they want to watch, when they want to watch it, all from the conve- nience of their own computer. Chung first began filming races when
he realized one of the biggest issues that would occur at races was when a call was disputed. “Often, there was only one side of the story, and the only way to definitely find out was to have video,” he explained. As there was a lack of short track cover- age, Chung began filming races. “I had never gotten serious with vid- eo until the 2007 US Championships in Cleveland Heights. I filmed the entire event as a way to help the skaters and the general public watch the races, and a
20 RACING BLADE Fall 2011
www.usspeedskating.org
good way to hold the judges accountable on calls. Soon I got better equipment and started my website (
www.shorttrackhd. com) and my YouTube channel (http://
www.youtube.com/user/shorttrackhd).” A short track athlete, Chung started skating after watching the 2006 Olympic Winter Games. “I used to inline for fun, but after watching Apolo skate the 500m in Torino, I thought maybe I should give it a try,” he explained. “I hadn’t been on ice since I was 12, but I decided to give it a try and I fell in love with short track. The ice has a certain draw to it,” he added. Off season, the Northern California
resident balances his full-time IT job with a Fortune 500 company with his second filming passion – capturing competitive fighting scenes for gaming videos. Chung estimates he travels to at least half a dozen World Cup and World Championship events each season. That’s a lot of miles and time he donates to share our sport, and we are lucky to have him as a fan.
Tom DiNardo DiNardo first became involved with US Speedskating in the summer of 2009. “I had made of photo of Jae-Su Chun and the men’s relay team af- ter they won the 2008 Vancouver World Cup event. While I was visiting Salt Lake, I
dropped off a copy of the image for Jae- Su at the USS offices as a gift. Perry Kind- er contacted me about the image to in- quire about purchasing copies for the rest of the team. After speaking with her, I de- cided to make a proposal for the 2009/10 season to help improve the quality of im- ages the Team had access to during the
run up to the 2010 Games. Thankfully my proposal was well received and I’ve been working with the Team since then,” ex- plained DiNardo. Prior to following the action on the ice,
DiNardo was a professional motorcycle racer (road racing) for about 15 years. While he was living in New York City in the early 90’s he started inlining as cross training. “I had skated on quads when I was young and also played hockey in high school, so picking up inline was pretty straightforward. I started heading over for some time on short track ice with some of the folks I was inlining with shortly thereafter and skated with the Flushing Meadows Club for a couple of years until my schedule got too busy to continue making the trip out to the rink. I still have a pair of Built for Speed Dark- star rollers back at the shop from back then,” he added. DiNardo started sports photography when he was in grade school. “My father bought a Nikon SLR and a few lenses for us to use when we went to spectate at the 1980 Games in Lake Placid. My dad just gave the camera to me at the Games and let me have fun with it. I had the chance to shoot some downhill skiing and hockey.” Fast forward several years later when
DiNardo and his family moved out to Washington State . “My wife Tracy and I decided to put our kids (Kai and Ally) into
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