Wang Meng of China, Short Track Speed Skating

中石油

中石油

Feb 17, 2010
Vancouver (AFP) - China's Wang Meng retained her Olympic 500m women's short-track skating title Wednesday and warned there was more to come as she kicked off her all-conquering bid at the Vancouver Games.
The 24-year-old never looked back after leading around the first bend to finish the four-woman final in 43.048sec with Canada's birthday girl Marianne St-Gelais second in 43.707.
"I felt I could beat her (St-Gelais) at the start. I felt I could go very smooth and I wouldn't have any problems," said Wang.
"I have a lot of confidence. I feel my 500m is stronger than it was in Turin. I slowed down on the last lap," admitted Wang who had also led her heat, quarter-final and semi-final races from start to finish.
"This is the first gold. The next event is the 1,500m (on Friday)," she warned.
"I feel that it's my duty to win that. For sure there's a lot of pressure but I'll find the motivation for the other events.
"The Olympics is a very exciting time for China. No matter how many Olympics you go to the dream never dies."
She knelt down twice on the ice in a traditional kowtow after her victory.
"It's still the Chinese New Year holiday," she said. "It was the only way to express my appreciation for the coaches, team leaders and teammates."
Wang, who stopped South Korea's sweep of four women's Olympic gold medals in 2006, is also set to race in the 1,000m, 1,500m and the 3,000m relay in Vancouver with great prospects.
She took the overall, 500m and 1000m titles at the 2009 world championships a year after sweeping all world titles in the Olympic distances.
Wang also won the 1000m silver and the 1500m bronze at the 2006 Turin Olympics.
Italy's Arianna Fontana finished third in 43.804 and another Canadian Jessica Gregg fourth in 44.204.
At last year's worlds, Wang beat South Korean Kim Min-Jung into second spot with teammate Zhou Yang third to claim the back-to-back women's overall titles.
"It's a nicest birthday present I could have," said St-Gelais who turned 20.
"I got off to a fast start and was able to keep the speed up throughout the race. I knew it was possible, but with short track, you never know what's going to happen," said the French-Canadian.
Fontana, 19, who was 11th at the Turin Games, said: "My goal was to make the final today. At the end the semi-final, I actually I wanted a medal."
The absence of injury-hit South Korean Jin Sun-Yu, who collected the 1,000m, 1,500m and 3,000m-relay golds in Turin, makes Wang's chances look bright.
But Wang, who holds the 500m and 1,000m world records, was cautious.
"At this level, no competition is easier. I think the Korean skaters will be strong competitors," she said, also citing as another rival her teammate Zhou Yang, who ranked top in the season's World Cup series.
sps/dj10

renande

[s:2]  [s:17]  [s:20]  [s:16]  [s:16] 英语好好哟