Many of the world’s best short track speedskaters choose not to wear protective Teflon bodysuits under their skinsuits so they can go a fraction of a second faster.

J.R. Celski won’t ever make that mistake again.

“I’d rather go a 10th of a second slower than set myself back this much again,” the Federal Way native said Wednesday afternoon while waiting to board a flight from Denver to Salt Lake City.

Racing without the protective suit at the Olympic Trials on Sept. 12, Celski, 19, fell and cut his left leg to the bone with his right skate. He believes the protective suit would have prevented the deep gash that could have spoiled his gold medal dreams.

“To this day I’m worried about not reaching my goal,” said Celski, one of the favorites to win gold in Vancouver. “But since the injury I’m getting more and more confident that I can be skating at my full potential by the Olympics.”

Saturday he’ll take a big step in that direction when he rejoins the national team. He expects to train with the team until the Olympics.

Celski still feels queasy when he watches replays of the 500-meter semifinals, but he wears the scar like a badge of honor.

He posted a link to a picture of his surgery scar on his Twitter page. He also keeps a picture of the open wound on his phone.

Five-time Olympic speedskating gold medalist and team surgeon Eric Heiden performed the surgery. Heiden needed 60 stitches to close the wound. The scar is shaped like a smile.

“I’m thinking of tattooing two eyes and a nose above it,” Celski said.

Celski has skated three times in the last two weeks.

He said he felt iffy the first time he skated, but much better the second time.

“And the third time I felt like I hadn’t been off the ice for that long,” Celski said.

If Celski can return to full strength in time for the Feb. 12-28 Olympics, he’ll be a threat to medal in each of his events. He won five medals at the 2009 World Championships.

But regardless of how much he recovers between now and then, one thing will be certain when Celski takes the ice in Vancouver: he’ll be wearing his protective bodysuit.

Road through Tacoma

For two Olympic streetcars, the road to the winter games goes through the Port of Tacoma.

Two 100-foot-long streetcars that will provide free transportation during the Olympics are scheduled to arrive in Tacoma on Dec. 1 aboard a cargo ship named Tomar. The streetcars will be loaded onto trucks and hauled the rest of the way to Vancouver.

The streetcars are on loan from Brussels, Belgium, and will be shipped back after the games, said Kathryn Nickerson, a spokesman for Bombardier, the company that manufactures the streetcars.

Bombardier, a Montreal-based plane and rail vehicle manufacturer, is a sponsor of the games and designed the Olympic torch.

Nickerson said the Flexity Streetcars are unique because they have “100 percent low floors” so riders don’t have to step up to enter the vehicles. “We are introducing them to North America during the Olympics,” Nickerson said.

The cars will run on the Olympic Line 1.1 miles between the Olympic Village to Granville Island, an entertainment center during the games. More than 500,000 people are expected to use the streetcars, Nickerson said.

Ticking time bomb

Ice dancers Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto had to pull out of next week’s Grand Prix of Figure Skating in Tokyo because Belbin needs surgery on her wisdom tooth.

It seems her dentist knew this day was coming. On Nov. 5, Belbin posted this on her Twitter page: “I’m a little uncomfortable w/my dentist’s choice of the term “ticking time bomb” to describe my wisdom teeth. I live on the edge.”

Craig Hill: 253-597-8497

craig.hill@thenewstribune.com

blog.thenewstribune.com/olympics