Skaters deliver double golden delight for China
Li Jianrou stands tall as rivals fall to be country's first champion of the Games, while outsider Zhang Hong powers to gold in 1,000m event
In the slippery world of short track, China kept their grip solidly on the Olympic gold medal and three hours later an outside chance delivered the country its second.
Li Jianrou extended China's dominance in the women's 500 metres yesterday, winning their fourth consecutive title after she was the only skater who did not fall in the wild final.
China's four-time defending Olympic champion, Wang Meng, missed the Sochi Winter Games after breaking her ankle in training last month.
I cried because I was so excited. My coach told me this medal is for Wang Meng as well, so I felt very moved
Li had little experience in the wild and woolly sprint, where getting off to a quick start is important. But she kept her cool, while everyone else was falling around her.
"I feel very lucky," the 27-year-old Li said through a translator.
She and one of her coaches cried tears of joy after China joined South Korea as the only countries to win the same short track event four Olympics in a row. The Koreans won the 3,000 relay in 1994, 1998, 2002 and 2006.
"I cried because I was so excited," Li said. "My coach told me this medal is for Wang Meng as well, so I felt very moved."
In the 1,000 metres event, Chinese outsider Zhang Hong powered to the women's 1,000m speed skating gold, as her vaunted rivals struggled to match her blistering pace.