apolo almost didn't make it to the 500m finals as he finished 3rd in his semifinals heat (only the first two advance). but a disqualification of li jiajun helped him move on to the finals. after the two false starts from two different skaters, the 500m finals was smooth sailing for apolo. he started at lane 1, had an amazing start and led the pack until he crossed the finish line. tremblay of canada took the silver and ahn of korea, apolo's arch rival, managed to snatch the bronze from bedard, another canadian skater. it was a clean race, so much different from his experience in salt lake in 2002. this was the perfect race, as he said. you can see the excitement and happiness he was feeling as he raised both his arms to express his victory. (and i was jumping and shrieking in my apartment as i watch him win the race).
taken by yuri kadobnov/afp/getty images
then came the 5000m relay. the u.s. team had a shot at the medal but had to face serious competition from the canadians and south koreans. during the first few laps, the u.s. team was actually leading. but soon, the canadians and south koreans passed them and were both taking a big lead. it was clearly a race between the south koreans and canadians for the gold and between the americans and italians for the bronze. the italians were leading until apolo took the track as the anchor. he immediately passed the italian skater and brought home the medal. it was a very exciting race for the bronze and i was ecstatic that ohno had a big part in making it happen for his team.
taken by al bello/getty images
way to go apolo! congratulations to you and to the u.s. short track team!
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