VANCOUVER, British Columbia — China won the women's 3,000-meter relay short track speedskating final Wednesday night after four-time defending champion South Korea was disqualified for impeding at the Olympics.
The South Koreans crossed the finish line first, but after a discussion by referees, they were disqualified for clicking skates with China just after an exchange with five laps to go.
China's team of Sun Linlin, Wang Meng, Zhang Hui and Zhou Yang leaped for joy when they were declared Olympic champions – the first time in the event. The Chinese are ranked No. 1 in the world and set the relay world record in October 2008.
The Canadian team of Jessica Gregg, Kalyna Roberge, Marianne St-Gelais and Tania Vicent won the silver, and the United States took the bronze in the four-team final. It was the Americans' first medal in the event since 1994, when they also won bronze.
It was the second gold each for Wang and Zhou. Wang won the 500, and Zhou won the 1,500. St-Gelais earned another silver to go with the one she earned in the 500.
The American team of Allison Baver, Alyson Dudek, Lana Gehring and Katherine Reutter fell back to last place early in the 27-lap race and never moved up, but the DQ allowed them onto the medal podium.
"There's the victory and the glory," Reutter said. "This may not have been the most glorious, but we were victorious."
Earlier at Pacific Coliseum, Apolo Anton Ohno advanced through the 500 heats, setting up the American for his last shot at an individual gold medal.
South Koreans Cho Ha-ri, Kim Min-jung, Lee Eun-byul and Park Seung-hi had their country's flags in hand and were ready to celebrate. Within minutes, though, it all changed. The DQ was announced and they slowly lowered their flags to the ice. Cho put her head down and used her left arm to cover her eyes.
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The South Koreans crossed the finish line first, but after a discussion by referees, they were disqualified for clicking skates with China just after an exchange with five laps to go.
China's team of Sun Linlin, Wang Meng, Zhang Hui and Zhou Yang leaped for joy when they were declared Olympic champions – the first time in the event. The Chinese are ranked No. 1 in the world and set the relay world record in October 2008.
The Canadian team of Jessica Gregg, Kalyna Roberge, Marianne St-Gelais and Tania Vicent won the silver, and the United States took the bronze in the four-team final. It was the Americans' first medal in the event since 1994, when they also won bronze.
It was the second gold each for Wang and Zhou. Wang won the 500, and Zhou won the 1,500. St-Gelais earned another silver to go with the one she earned in the 500.
The American team of Allison Baver, Alyson Dudek, Lana Gehring and Katherine Reutter fell back to last place early in the 27-lap race and never moved up, but the DQ allowed them onto the medal podium.
"There's the victory and the glory," Reutter said. "This may not have been the most glorious, but we were victorious."
Earlier at Pacific Coliseum, Apolo Anton Ohno advanced through the 500 heats, setting up the American for his last shot at an individual gold medal.
South Koreans Cho Ha-ri, Kim Min-jung, Lee Eun-byul and Park Seung-hi had their country's flags in hand and were ready to celebrate. Within minutes, though, it all changed. The DQ was announced and they slowly lowered their flags to the ice. Cho put her head down and used her left arm to cover her eyes.
Full Story
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/02/24/team-usa-wins-bronze-in-3_n_475997.html