Ohno! Apolo crashes

By Paul Newberry

Associated Press

SALT LAKE CITY – Seattle’s Apolo Anton Ohno lost what surely would have been an Olympic gold medal in short track when a last-lap collision sent him and three other skaters crashing into the boards.

Refusing to give up, Ohno managed to stagger and slide across the finish line skate-first for the silver in the men’s 1,000 meters Saturday night.

After landing on his back and spinning to the side of the track, a deep gash in his left leg, Ohno got to his feet and covered the final few yards just after Australia’s Steven Bradbury, who had been in last place, coasted across the line as the lucky winner.

“This was the best race of my life,” said Ohno, who was brought to the medals ceremony in a wheelchair. “I skated it exactly like I wanted. Unfortunately, I went down in the last corner. But this is the sport I train for. I got a silver medal, so I can’t complain.”

Ohno needed six stitches in his inner thigh but said he should be able to compete in his other three Olympic races, beginning Wednesday. If healthy, he would be among the favorites in all three.

“I don’t know how I got cut,” Ohno said. “I’m just lucky the injury is not more severe.”

Bradbury earned Australia’s first Winter Olympics gold medal ever, taking advantage of the quirkiest sport in the games. He reached the final only because another skater was disqualified in the semifinals.

“Maybe I’m not the most deserving guy, but I got the gold and I’m stoked about it,” Bradbury said. “I thought maybe two would go down and I’d get the bronze. Then I saw them all go down and, ‘Oh, my God.’ “

The sellout crowd of more than 15,424 booed loudly when Bradbury was shown as the winner. One skater, China’s Li Jiajun, was disqualified but officials allowed the other results to stand.

Canada’s Mathieu Turcotte got up in time to claim the bronze.

Ohno made an outside pass for the lead with two laps to go and was still in front heading to the final turn, the crowd deafening as they sensed a chance to witness the 19-year-old win the first of four Olympic medals.

That’s when everything fell apart.

Li tried to pass on the outside, jostling with Ohno as both skaters fought for position. Li slipped out of the race about the same time Ahn Hyun-soo moved inside of Ohno.

It was a brazen move by the 16-year-old South Korean, considering there was hardly any room to pass. Not surprisingly, it sent bodies flying in all directions.

Ahn went down and took out Ohno and Turcotte. The American did a 360-degree spin and slammed into the boards back first.

Bradbury, who was far behind the other four skaters in the final, simply glided across the line. He threw up his arms and smiled in disbelief.

Even after the gold medal was draped around his neck, Bradbury was still shaking his head and smiling sheepishly.

Ohno, meanwhile, had the presence of mind to pull himself up from a crash that didn’t appear to be his fault. He threw his left skate across the finish line, a gutsy move that gave him the silver and likely will go down as one of signature moments of these games.

Turcotte also had to get up in order to claim a medal.

Ohno’s leg was cut in the melee. After being brought to the edge of the ice in the wheelchair, he hobbled to the podium, struggling to pull himself up to the second-place position.

The other American in the 1,000, Rusty Smith, finished third in his quarterfinal race and was eliminated.

“With 1 1/2 laps to go, I knew I wouldn’t get that second spot,” Smith said. “When someone passes you on the outside, they just have more strength. It was a tough race.”

Ohno didn’t have to face the defending Olympic and World Cup champion in the final. Kim Dong-sung of South Korea fell on the final lap and was eliminated.

Meanwhile, the Olympic career of Amy Peterson came to an end.

Peterson, a five-time Olympian who won a silver at the 1992 Albertville Games and two bronzes at Lillehammer in ‘94, was part of the American 3,000 relay team that fell in the semifinals and finished far back.

She made it through the heats of 500 but finished a distant third in the quarterfinals, crossing the line with her hands on her knees.