With an Olympic record of 2 minutes 12.38 seconds in the heats of the men’s 1500m short track skating earlier today, Korea’s Jung-Su Lee went on to break his own record just hours later in the semi-final, shaving nearly two seconds off to finish in 2:10.949.

Lee, ranked number one in the world, progressed to the evening’s A final as outright favourite for the gold and he did not disappoint.

As the skaters were called to the start, it was hard to differentiate whether Lee, US favourite Apolo Anton Ohno or Canadian Jean Olivier got the loudest cheer such was the noise from the 14,000 strong crowd.

An early lead from Olivier could not be sustained and the race resembled a constant changing of the guards with the US and Korean skaters edging each other out for a glimpse of the finish line.

The three Korean athletes led the field into the final bend but a spectacular collision sent two careering towards the wall. Lee was unaffected by the crash and sped over the finish line, taking gold in a time of 2:17.611.

Apolo Anton Ohno of the United States took advantage of the Korean crash and skated to silver, with teammate JR Celski securing bronze.

In the B final, Canadian Charles Hamelin was first to line up his blades to the start line, taking on five other skaters for honours. Positioned in the favourable first lane, Hamelin held his lead throughout the race and surged home with the deafening roar of the crowd taking him over the line first in a time of 2:18.243.

In the semi-finals of the ladies’ 3000m relay China qualified fastest with a new Olympic record time of 4:08.797.

Joining the powerhouse Chinese team in the A Final on Day 13 (Tuesday 23 February – Vancouver time) will be Korea, USA and Canada. The B final will be raced by Japan, Hungary, Italy and the Netherlands.

Alice Wheeler
AOC - Vancouver