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Zhou breaks South Korean dominance

(China Daily)
Updated: 2010-02-22 07:07

VANCOUVER, Canada: Zhou Yang has etched her name into China's Winter Olympics history.

The 18-year-old won the country's first gold in the women's 1500m short track skating, which was dominated by South Korea in the past two Games.

China's Zhou Yang celebrates her gold medal in the women's 1500 metres short track speed skating final during the flower ceremony at the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics, February 20, 2010. [Agencies]

Zhou also helped China notch up a record three gold medals at a single Winter Olympics.

"Before the finals, I told myself: 'Zhou Yang, you should be confident. You are sure to win'," said Zhou, who is China's youngest Winter Games champion.

"The goal of our team at this Games was to break the domination of South Korea, especially in long-distance events. I'm very excited we could do it."

Her win follows golds for Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo in the figure skating pairs and Wang Meng in the women's short track speed skating 500m.

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After Wang was disqualified for elbowing American Katherine Reutter in the semifinals, Olympic debutant Zhou was the only Chinese on Saturday night in the eight-skater final at the Pacific Coliseum, which featured three South Koreans.

Zhou rushed to the lead with three laps to go, and easily won in a new Olympic record time of 2 min, 16.993 sec, well ahead of South Koreans Lee Eun-byul and Park Seung-hi, who finished second and third with 2:17.849 and 2:17.927.

A traditional short track speed skating powerhouse, South Korea swept the gold and silver medals in the women's 1500m at the previous two Winter Olympics, with China's best performance coming from Wang, who bagged a bronze at the Turin Games four years ago.

Zhou's performance earned kudos from her archrivals.

"We were strong in the event in the past, but this time, the race did not pan out the way we wanted," said bronze medalist Park.

After crossing the finish line, Zhou, the world-record holder in the event, put her hands together in a thank-you gesture and rushed to hug Li Yan, head coach of the Chinese team.

"It is a historic breakthrough and a great victory," Li said excitedly. "Zhou achieved success against seven foreign competitors. Her time is very close to the world record that she holds, but it is very difficult to set a world record at an Olympic Games."

"This third gold medal is a breakthrough for China," said Xiao Tian, deputy chef-de-mission of the Chinese delegation. "I believe it will boost the confidence and the fighting spirit of the whole delegation at the Games."