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Chinese Women Skaters Make Clean Sweep in 500m Short Track World Cup
The Chinese women skaters comfortably made a clean sweep in the 500m finals of the ISU Short Track Speed Skating World Cup at the Seven Peaks Ice Arena Saturday in Provo, Salt Lake City.
As world record holder Evgenia Radanova of Bulgaria slipped out of the way in the third lap, the Chinese women claimed the top three spots in the four-member finals after Yang Yang (A) overtook Radanova in the second lap along the 110-meter rink.
Yang Yang (A), the first four-time woman world champion, timed in 44.664 seconds for the top honor, with her namesake teammate Yang Yang (S) finished second in 44.788 and another Chinese compatriot Sun Dandan in third in 44.883.
Radanova, who holds the world record of 43.873 seconds, completed her course in a formality manner in 1:07.677.
"Yang Yang (A) surely has the ability to overtake Radanova as she managed for a close chase against Radanova because the Bulgarian usually slipped to the bigger turns along the curves," said Chinese team manager Tong Lixin.
"It's very encouragable as the Chinese women made the clean sweep," Tong added.
"I'm well prepared for an early lag behind Radanova," said Yang Yang (A), who started skating at the age of 10, "But I'm confident of overtaking her as she also has her weakness along the rink." "My utmost goal here is not to win the gold medals in the World Cup, but to improve my skills and to accumulate enough experiences for future international meets," said Yang Yang (A), the top woman short track skater in China since 1997, who reaped three gold medals last week in Calgary, the first leg of the World Cup season.
The men's 500m title was won by Apolo Anton Ohno of the United States, who led from the very beginning to the finish in 42.291, while Chinese Li Jiajun, a 1,500m winner on Friday, overtook two other rivals in the 4.5-lap race for the silver medal in 42.698, with the bronze medal gone to Winter Olympic champion Takafumi Nishitani of Japan in 42.841.
"I had a bad starting as I was nudged along the curve," said Li Jiajun, the 1999 world champion, "but I was not in any panic mood and eventually overtook the other two for the second place finish, which I still felt satisfied."
Ohno, 18, who won all events except the 3,000m in Calgary, was the 1999 world junior short track champion.
"He's surely to take the title once he establishes his lead in the start as he has strong sprinting ability," said the Chinese team leader Tong.
Three South Korean women skaters were eliminated all in the semi-finals as world junior record holder Katia Zini of Italy had an early exit in the quarter-finals, while former world champion Kim Dong-Sung of South Korea was disqualified in the men's quarter-finals.
The ISU Short Track World Cup will conclude on Sunday with six more titles to be contested at the second leg of its 2000-2001 season.
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