Gagnon is golden

Canadian wins two golds on final night of speed skating

Marc Gagnon won gold in the 500-meters and 5,000 relay. AP

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- Marc Gagnon won the men's 500-meter short-track speed skating gold medal Saturday, then added another gold in the 5,000 relay.

Fellow Canadian Jonathan Guilmette took the silver in the 500, while Rusty Smith of the United claimed the bronze.

In the women's 1,000 meter, Yang Yang (A) of China picked up her second gold medal of the Games. Ko Gi-hyun of South Korea won silver and China's Yang Yang (S) took the bronze.

Yang Yang (A), who finished in 1 minute, 36.391 seconds, also won the 500 a week ago, making her the first Chinese athlete to win gold at the Winter Olympics. Now, she's got two.

"After my first gold medal, I could relax. There was less pressure on me," said Yang Yang (A).

Italy took the silver behind Canada in the 5,000 relay, while China won the bronze.

Gagnon pumped his fists as he crossed the line in 41.802 seconds, having won his first individual gold medal. A four-time world champion, he was the sport's dominant skater through much of the 1990s always came up short in the Olympics.

Gagnon made the 500 finals in the last two Olympics, but fell each time.

"It's the end of a journey," he said. "I still can't believe it."

Gagnon barely survived the semifinals. He beat Kim Dong-sung to the line by no more than a few centimeters, eliminating the South Korean world champion.

In the finals, he made a strong pass with less than a lap to go. He went inside to catch Smith with just more than a half-lap remaining, then held off Guilmette at the finish line.

"You have to find a dream to work for, that's what I did," said Gagnon. "I felt I wasn't finished in short track speed skating. That's why I came back. I worked three years for this."

American Apolo Anton Ohno, hoping to win his third Olympic medal, was disqualified in the semifinals after he collided with Japanese skater Satoru Terao on the next-to-last turn.

Ohno remained on his feet after the collision with Terao but finished third, so he would not have advanced even if he wasn't DQed.

The star-studded crowd -- many of them wearing fake "soul patches" under their lips in honor of Ohno -- let out a stunned groan when the decision was announced. The 19-year-old American merely smiled and left the ice.

Ohno won a gold medal in the 1,500 despite crossing the line second behind Kim, who was disqualified for an illegal block.

Ohno also won a silver in the 1,000 and was trying to become just the second American to win four medals in a Winter Olympics. Eric Heiden won five gold medals in speed skating at the 1980 Lake Placid Games.

Terau was given a spot in the final, but he finished last of the five skaters.

Japan's Takafumi Nishitani, the defending Olympic champion, was knocked out in the quarterfinals, finishing third in the race won by Smith.

Li Jiajun of China, the reigning world champion in the 500, fell in his quarterfinal heat after going wide in a turn, catching his skate in the foam padding.

The competition was held before another packed house at the Salt Lake Ice Center, which included former New York mayor Rudolph Guiliani, Salt Lake Olympics chief Mitt Romney and figure skating bronze medalist Michelle Kwan, who held up a sign that said "Oh Yes Ohno!"

Earlier in the day, Ohno learned that he could keep his gold medal from the 1,500.

An arbitration panel dismissed a South Korean protest that would have given the gold to Kim.

In a 2 1/2-hour session before the Court of Arbitration for Sport, the U.S. Olympic Committee successfully argued that the South Koreans "had no basis for alleging that the field-of-play decision was arbitrary or made in bad faith."

A week earlier, Ohno was leading the 1,000 on the final turn when a crash took out all but one skater. Australia's Steven Bradbury skated across the line as the fortuitous winner, while Ohno staggered across in time to get the silver despite a gash in his left.

 

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Ohno takes silver in short track Ohno gets 1,500 gold after DQ Panel dismisses Korean protest of Ohno gold Pechstein sets world record, wins 5,000 meter gold
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