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Kearns • Though in a walking boot and on crutches, Anthony Barthell decided to go ahead and attend the speedskating camp in Moncton, Canada he had been planning to go to. His skating career was less than a year old, on a promising early track. But Barthell suffered a severe foot sprain a week before he was scheduled to leave his home in Florida to attend the camp, put on by former U.S. speedskating coach Sue Ellis.

He had already paid for the trip, he figured, so he could watch from afar, pick up tips and meet new skaters. As the athletes carved their way around the short track, a 13-year-old saw Barthell standing on his crutches. The kid was J.R. Celski. He could have hung out with the other youth skaters, but chose to stand alongside Barthell and pester him with questions.

Celski is relentless, said Barthell. Always has been. Celski, now the 26-year-old three-time Olympic medalist and face of U.S. short-track speedskating, is coming off two frustrating, injury-prone seasons following the 2014 Olympics in Sochi, Russia. He's determined to shred that lingering frustration of the past two years with the 2018 Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea, in his sights.

Seven years after that camp in Canada, Celski went on to become a 19-year-old Olympic medalist in short-track speedskating, winning two bronze medals at the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver and adding another, a silver, in Sochi four years later. Fast-forward to 2016, Celski and Barthell are leading Team USA in different fashions: Celski as the veteran, while Barthell was named the new U.S. short-track head coach this summer.

This weekend at the Utah Olympic Oval in Kearns, Barthell and his staff will determine the upcoming U.S. short-track World Cup team through qualifiers.

"It's been a tough go for me, but at the same time, more so than anything, it's preparing me for what's to come, preparing for the 2018 Games," Celski said. "Just knowing that there's obstacles — and there always will be — I bounced back from, I'm really happy about my progress up to this point. I feel good about where I stand right now and where I'm headed in the future."

After winning that short-track silver medal in Sochi and finishing second at the World Championships in March 2014, Celski knew he needed surgery to repair a torn hip labrum that would sideline him for the 2014-2015 season. When he got back onto the ice and into a familiar rhythm more than a year later, he crashed into the pads during the U.S. national championships in Kearns in January, suffering an MCL injury in his right knee.

"Off for the next four months," he said. "It took a while to get back on my feet."

Celski not only missed out on going for a U.S. title, but a chance to race at the 2016 World Championships. Barthell previously coached Celski during the 2012-2013 season, but said he's noticed a shift in Celski as he's prepped for the upcoming World Cup campaign.

"If we're having a bad practice, he'll talk to me about bringing the group together and I'll let him address them as a whole," Barthell said. "And the team will be there [to listen]."

This World Cup season is crucial; the one a calendar year before the next Winter Olympics always is. Celski said athletes can practice against each other all they want, but it isn't until you line up against the top skaters from around on the globe that you get the true vibe of what the competition will be at the next Olympics.

And make no mistake, the 2018 Olympics in PyeongChang are on Celski's mind. The surgeries and untimely injuries have only stoked that desire to go for his fourth Olympic medal, or possibly more. The setbacks also serve as a reminder that despite his success, it can also be fleeting.

"I've had to really take a step back and establish what my immediate goals are rather than looking too far into the future," Celski said. "I'm trying to stay here."

Twitter: @chriskamrani —

About J.R. Celski

Age » 26

Hometown » Federal Way, Wash.

Sport » Short-track speedskating

Olympic success » Three-time Winter Olympic medalist (2014 Sochi Games, 5,000-meter relay silver, 2010 Vancouver Games 5,000-meter relay bronze, 1,500-meter bronze).

Overcoming injuries » Underwent hip surgery in Nov. 2014 to to repair torn labrum, suffered MCL injury in crash this January during U.S. championships. —

U.S. short-track World Cup qualifiers

P Saturday-Sunday

At the Utah Olympic Oval, Kearns

Races scheduled to begin each day at 9 a.m.

Saturday • Women's 1,500 meter, 1,000 meter; Men's 1,500 meter, 1,000 meter

Sunday • Women's 500 meter, 1,000 meter; Men's 500 meter, 1,000 meter