BEIJING (AP) β Choi Minjeong of ΒιΆΉΚΣΖ΅ Korea successfully defended her Olympic title in the 1,500-meter short track speedskating race on Wednesday.
extending the tradition of Asian dominance in the event.
Arianna Fontana of Italy took silver by two-thousandths of a second over world champion Suzanne Schulting of the Netherlands.
It was Fontanaβs 11th career Olympic medal and third in Beijing. The most decorated short track skater in history also won the 500 and took silver in the mixed team relay.
Schulting earned her fourth medal in Beijing. She finished second in the 500, and won the 1,000 and the 3,000 relay.
Canada won the men's 5,000 relay on the final night of short track at Capital Indoor Stadium.
Charles Hamelin, Steven Dubois, Jordan Pierre-Gilles and Pascal Dion skated cleanly to take their nationβs eighth gold medal in the 45-lap race with a time of 6:41.257.
βI saw on the last two exchanges that there were some small gaps and thought, βThis is it,ββ said Dubois, who crossed the finish line and raised his arms in triumph.
At age 37, Hamelin broke his own record as the oldest male short track skater to win an Olympic medal. It was the sixth of his career in his fifth Winter Games.
βI just think if you put the work in, anything is possible,β Hamelin said. βFinishing on top of the podium with these guys, it is living your dream.β
ΒιΆΉΚΣΖ΅ Korea earned silver. Italy claimed bronze.
Dubois won his third medal in Beijing. He finished second in the 1,500 and third in the 500.
Sun Long of China crashed later in the relay, much to the dismay of the fans, who waved the host countryβs flag and chanted encouragement. The Chinese won four medals, including golds in the men's 1,000 by Ren Ziwei and in the debut of mixed team relay.
___
More AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/winter-olympics and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
Beth Harris, The Associated Press
