Canada's Hamelin takes 500m Olympic gold, Apolo Anton Ohno disqualified
From Sportsbeat staff, in Vancouver
CANADA'S Charles Hamelin took a dramatic 500m short track gold as world record holder Si-Bak Sung fell on the final corner in Vancouver.
STREAKING TO VICTORY: Charles Hamelin takes short track 500m gold for Canada on home ice at the Pacific Coliseum (Getty Images)
The Canadian, who took relay silver four years ago in Turin, took gold as Sung was knocked down by Francois-Louis Tremblay, who had himself been unfairly brought down by the USA's Apolo Anton Ohno.
Hamelin, the current world champion, set blistering pace in the early stages but it was Sung who crept through and looked a certainty for gold.
But he and another Canadian Tremblay fell on the final corner after Tremblay had been bumped by defending champion Ohno.
Ohno crossed the line in silver medal position but he was disqualified after the race was review by the judges.
Hamelin was in fantastic form throughout qualifying and was blistering form to take his first Olympic gold medal, while silver went to Sung and Tremblay captured bronze.
In a frantic final, it was Hamelin who set the early pace with Sung, the world record holder in hot pursuit.
Tremblay was in third with Ohno, not renowned for his fast starts was in fourth. That was how in progressed until Sung edged ahead of Hamelin but on the final lap, Ohno, desperate for an eighth Olympic medal, made his move.
But it transpired Ohno attempted to move through the field unfairly, put his hand on the hip of Tremblay which caused him to fall and take out Sung in the process.
Hamelin barely stayed on his feet to cross the line in first place, while Sung and Tremblay were upgraded while it got even better for the two Canadians as they returned to the ice to scoop relay gold.
Back in the 500m Ohno's disqualification ensured Great Britain's Jon Eley, third in the B final, is bumped up to sixth overall.
Meanwhile, in the women's 1000m Meng Wang of China captured her third Olympic gold of Vancouver 2010 and her fourth overall.
She has already scooped 500m and 3000m relay gold in the Pacific Coliseum and she recovered from a slow start to roar into the lead at halfway and didn't look back before crossing the line in first place for her sixth Olympic medal - the most by a female short track speed skater.
Silver went to the USA's Katherine Reutter as bronze went to Korea's Seung-Hi Park after China's Yang Zhou, who set a world record in qualifying, was disqualified.
In the men's 5000m relay, Hamelin returned to the ice to help Canada to gold, his second of the night, while Tremblay also updated his 500m individual bronze to team gold.
"I don't think there are any words to describe it," said Tremblay. Stepping on the podium, all of us together - we've been dreaming about this.
Hamelin added: "It's a golden moment. Not only were we on the podium, but we're on top. I didn't think anything could be better than winning at home.
"The plan was set up really well. We knew what to do and our goal was to stick to the plan. I think both races were the greatest of my life."
Also members of the team were Francois Hamelin and Olivier Jean while silver went to the Korean quartet and the USA clinched bronze ahead of China, ensuring Ohno gets his hands on his eighth Winter Olympic medal.
On whether his disqualification from the Men's 500 m Final motivated him for the Men's 5000 m Relay:
"Being disqualified definitely fired me up," said Ohno. "There is nothing more I'd rather do than win a medal with these guys. They just skated their hearts out.
"Every one of them put their heart and soul into this. Some have had setbacks, struggles, that's life. We went out there tonight and skated 100 percent and I have no regrets.
"This group of guys is very young and very talented. And the nice thing about an Olympic medal is that it is for life - it never goes away.
"It's definitely my last race for Vancouver. But I'm not looking past tomorrow."
In the B final, Eley, Anthony Douglas, Paul Worth and Jack Whelbourne timed their run to perfection to edged out Germany in a head-to-head battle as Great Britain took sixth place.
AS IT HAPPENS: Day 15 of the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver
Working...
Comments
man you americans are a
man you americans are a bunch of sore losers...you really cant stand losing can you?? You need to make excuses to justify losing...you guys really do think you are the best in the world at everything, and when your not, you need to make excuses to feel better about yourselves...grow up and take your head outta your asses
u know, not ALL americans
u know, not ALL americans are sore losers. there will ALWAYS be at least one sore loser in a country. I'm not hating on the Canadians even though I am sad that Apolo got disqualified. I am happy for Canada for winning gold and bronze, but its this article that is makes me somewhat mad. It says that Apolo unfairly pushed, but i didn't see his hand extend to truly push the guy next to him away. I only saw him extend his arm enough to just do a "hand check", a legal move in short track. Fine, he got disqualified, but he didn't start the whole pile-up. A lot can happen in short track. Again, I dont think Apolo Ohno caused all the falls in the race. He skated an awesome race.... everyone did. I congratulate him for his success in his career, and I also congratulate the Canadians for their medals and awesome success in winning the most gold (Canada was awesome in the women's snowboarding!)
i totally agree with you!
i totally agree with you! all this fight about the olympics is sad. i thought the olympics was supposed to BIND US TOGETHER. from what i've been seeing in most of the comments, the Olympics seem to be achieving quite the opposite... it makes me sad :( and yes, this article does seem to diss Apolo quite a lot...
Canada AND U.S. rule!
Poor Canada. I'm glad
Poor Canada. I'm glad they've done well in these olympics but man it would've been a much sweeter victory if there had not been favoritism shown by the judges in many of the events.
Ohno was DQ to appease the
Ohno was DQ to appease the Korean people after they got their DQ. There is no fairness to this sport just watch the last 3 olympics, Ohno got pushed down many times w/ no DQ. Candians clearly pushed Ohno in the other final and no call. It clearly is a homer, but they will not get away with this in hockey. USA will win again, and the lowly cheaten candians will go back to the nonames they are.
I think BOTH canada and the
I think BOTH canada and the u.s. were awesome in the Olypics. Canada with the most gold medals and U.S. with the most over all medals. I don't think Canadians are lowly, and I'm an American. It sucks Apolo got DQed but I'm happy it's the Canadians we lost to. Canada is like a brother country to the United States..and if I had to choose a country that the U.S. have to lose to, it would be Canada.
No-names? Seriously? We
No-names? Seriously? We invented hockey, and incase you missed it, we won. Check which nation holds the record for most gold at a winter olympics. And don't act like Ohno gets bad calls, he won most of his medals by being the beneficiary of them.
Ohno
There are so many times Ohno's won due to contact - he's got to get caught sometime. I think he pushed the Canadian but even if he didn't he won other medals when he shouldve been DQd. Why cant americans lose gracefully? Why is it always someone elses fault? Why didn't he just skate faster?
I've enjoyed watching short
I've enjoyed watching short track but am by no means an expert. I understand Ohno was dqed for a push causing a Canadian skater to fall. But can someone explain why Hamelin was also not dqed for a push that cased the South Korean skater to fall? What was the difference?
other fall
The slow mo replay showed the guy falling before the contact.
He slightly lost footing,
He slightly lost footing, but definitely would not have gone down if Hamelin hadn't pushed him.
Expect Canada to also
Expect Canada to also benefit from "officiating" in Sunday's gold medal hockey match. I have no problem dq-ing Ohno for his "push" if the Canadian official also dq-ed Hamelin's more significant push of the Korean.
That is so true! Why is it
That is so true! Why is it that they mention over and over Apolo's "push" when the push by the Canadian looked so much worse and they don't even mention it! Even on the slow-mo replays with commentary, they don't mention Hamelin's push...They should have DQ'd Hamelin...
ohno/hamelin
You guys must have seen a different replay than I did. Ohno from two angles pushed the guys ass and he fell. The other guy was falling and the Canadian guy put his hand out prior to him hitting the ground. WATCH IT AGAIN!
Apolo barely touched the Canadian
if at all. I watched the replays and if Apolo's hand touched the Canadian, it was barely a brush. The judges should not be from the countries racing.
Hamelin push
South Korea has promised formal complaint against Hamelin for clear push in final
In an earlier race a
In an earlier race a Canadian did the same thing to Apolo, but Apolo managed to keep himself upright. If the Canadian in this race didn't go down, Apolo would have not been DSQ. I guess being the better skater has it's downsides.
Absolutely! I found the tone
Absolutely! I found the tone of this article prejudicial and inflammatory. All of this "unfairly" and making Apolo seem like a brut on ice convinced me that the author is willing to skew the facts and attempt to lead the reader to whatever false conclusion he has arrived at. Apolo's touch was faint and the Canadian was unsteady. If you watch ANY speed skating race, you will see that it is the norm for skaters coming up from behind on a slower skater (which the Canadian was) to place a steadying hand on the skater in front to keep from running over them. It is done in every race and by many skaters. If it is going to be a reason for disqualification, then it needs to be every time and not just for if the skater falls. When it is only a consideration if a skater falls, then the other skater is penalized for the inability of the falling skater to remain on his feet. If the push is severe, as in the women's relay race when the Korean shoved the Chinese skater enough to stand her upright, then the DQ is obvious.
i agree with you
i agree with you
Si-Bak Sung shall be the
Si-Bak Sung shall be the winner and he got pushed. Well, after women short track relay and this men 500m short track. I am sure Koreans will definitely start boycott all Australian and Canadian products. However, shit happens, people need to calm down
Canadian Attitudes
And to all the Canadian bashers you need to take into account the Canadian way of viewing things, this one Olympic event that won't come to Canada for a very very long time is the one that many Canadians will hold on to. It's like winning a leg of a race in your home town even though you'll never win the actual goal of being top dog in sports. But Canadians are just naive and drunk so they see it as here and now. And seem to forget the past and future.
WHAT???
I can't understand your point of view. Ohno had no problems with Canadians or Canadian skaters. He learned to speed skate in Canada. S Davis trains in Canada but competes for the US.
Apparently the Olympics won't be coming back to you for a while either -- didn't the US (Chicago) get voted out in the first round?
I know you don't represent all Americans. I know that they are not all poor sports. Look at Lindsey Vonn supporting her friend the German gold medal winner, the snowboarders, etc.
National Hero
Ohno's disqualification was justified, it wasn't his so called push that did the trick it was the fact that his leg took out the left arm of Francois Tremblay during the final turn. Oddly enough the Canadian judge felt as well that it was Ohno's actions that cause the accident and didn't take into consideration before handing the gold to Charles Hameling that Hamelin had actually brought down the Korean skater who would've like him recovered and won the race. In my book Ohono DQ is correct, and Hamelin should as well have been DQ'd. But when you're the Canadian judge and Canadian men don't have anything but 2 medals in this sport you need to help out. I'm sure others would have done the same.
The officiating is done by 4
The officiating is done by 4 judges with 1 of them spectating at each corner and 2 from the video feed. All 4 must agree with each other. Don't tell me all 4 are Canadian because you're just being ridiculous.
Hamelin did not bring down
Hamelin did not bring down the Korean. Sung, who should have won gold, fell all on his own. Hamelin put his hand out 'after' Sung was already falling. I don't think that Ono should have been disqualified, but that's the way it goes. He was only in the final due to a crash in his semifinal anyway.
Pittiful canadians...they had to cheat to make it to the podium.
How Shameful!... but STILL read this you 'beer-drinking and cigar-smoking' fans...
USA
Total Medals 2511 over 1000 Gold
canada
Total Medals 379
Ha, ha, ha... a little more than 10% so you have a whole lot more CHEATING to do...
Oh, and in winter olympics.. USA 216.. canada 119... so don't be so cocky!
and Norway - total medals
and Norway - total medals 290 - from 4.5 million people. Don't blow your own horn too loud!
medals
When you consider per capita - Canada kicks US's ass.
Maybe Canada should give
Maybe Canada should give their racers a head start, let's say 5 seconds. A couple of shin jabs against their competition and the judges would have to DQ anybody to win.
I don't think 5 seconds
I don't think 5 seconds would be enough. Canada is a socialist country and will do anything to even out the playing field.
Canada Cheats To Win
Tremblay's inside boot hit the ice causing the fall, not Ohno's hand. He would've fallen whether Ohno touched him or not. Skaters routinely touch each other during races to make the other aware of their position. As host of the games, Canada should be ashamed of a Canadian judge DQing a skater to hand a medal to a Canadian. Upon closer review, Hamelin gave Sung a shove that likely caused his fall.
Hamelin should be DQ' on
Hamelin should be DQ' on that WHo cares about 3rd 4th place exchange. Wake up you bling Homer ref!!!
Ohno being DQ
Biased comment? Are you sure you are OK???
I am not even American so you can not call me on the 'patriotism' thing..
And if you think than ANYBODY gives a d... on what those small-eyed miggets think, you are delusional. South-Koreans are no friends of the US in so much more important matters (political, economic) than speed skating so there is no lost love there; plus they talk foul everytime they do not win... I mean their well-known hoard tactic to eliminate other skaters back-fired in the 1000m and STILL they said Ohno did not deserve the medal. Good thing China will resolve the 'supremacy' issue very soon...
hamelin pushed korean!!!!
it's so obvious that hamelin pushed korean.
Why judges didn't call that?
Such a fair sportsmanship.
Interesting. Remember the
Interesting. Remember the prior semifinal race when the Canadian racer was advanced and the commentors all said he was not in a competitive position and therefore should not be advanced. That same Canadian is the one who pushed Ohno but Ohno kept his balance therefore no foul was called. Credit to Ohno that he came back to pass both Canadians for the bronze. Was it a Candadian judge then as well? By the way, I am not an American.
How can the Olympics allow
How can the Olympics allow one judge (from a competing country) have so much influence. In most situations, there are multiple judges and the low and high are thrown out to eliminate bias. This race was inherently at risk for bias and it appears to have been a factor.
Ohno's Disqualification
Can anybody explain WHY the USA did not protest this absolutely UNFAIR call from a cANADIAN judge in favor of the 2 canadian skaters???
It was absolutely clear that Ohno did not cause any of the falls! canadian are pitiful and the only way to get revenge is if w3e win the hockey game... unless there is another imbecil canadian referee for that game!
What are you talking about?
What are you talking about? Ohno definately caused all the falls as usual. He always do that. Ohno= Oh! No!!!!
Are YOU kidding?
Ohno did not push anyone. I watched this over and over from several angles. Ohno's had BARELY brushed the Canadian and to those who say it was his skate, well Ohno's skate was inches away from the Canadian when he fell.
angles
Look at the rules - they're on the International federations website. The US have fought DQs in the past but even the coaching staff thinks it was called correctly. Its hard for Ohno to judge what he did or didn't do . . . maybe when he sees the slow motion he'll change his mind.
and Apolo never got anyone disqualified before?
the biased comments on here are unbelievable! please don't let your patriotism blind you... Apolo isn't an angel. he's picked up quite a few medals from the DSQ of other skaters too -- remember the South Korean gold he "stole.' I mean, they hate him so much in SK that the US team couldn't even go there in 2003 cuz of death threats... AND they printed his face on toilet paper!!!! He's called the "King of Fouls" and you don't just earn that name from nothing.
anyway, it's speed skating man.. crap happens. it's not always fair, but it is what it is
and Apolo never got anyone disqualified before?
the biased comments on here are unbelievable! please don't let your patriotism blind you... Apolo isn't an angel. he's picked up quite a few medals from the DSQ of other skaters too -- remember the South Korean gold he "stole.' I mean, they hate him so much in SK that the US team couldn't even go there in 2003 cuz of death threats... AND they printed his face on toilet paper!!!! He's called the "King of Fouls" and you don't just earn that name from nothing.
anyway, it's speed skating man.. crap happens. it's not always fair, but it is what it is
yea and if the judging was
yea and if the judging was fair Hamelin would've been DQed atleast twice in Vancouver. Some get caught, some don't. But don't act like because it wasnt called it didnt happen.
This isn't about patriotism,
This isn't about patriotism, it's about sportsmanship. Where's the UNBIASED sportsmanship in a match involving two CANADIAN athletes with a CANADIAN referee making the make or break calls? This isn't allowed in football (soccer), so why should the OLYMPICS be made of as an exemption? That patriotism argument is weak, so don't even bring it in here if you can't back it.
Death threats in South Korea? That's no news. South Korea has people called anti-fans which basically send death threats to their own celebrities, such as musicians and the like. Apolo isn't the only person hated in South Korea, so really, where are all your good arguments? Your comments, from "patriotism" to "King of Fouls" just seem like weak opinions to me.
Amen to that.
Amen to that.
Apolo no it's not 8 medals
Apolo no it's not 8 medals in our hearts we know it's 9 medals!!!! Awesome competition u did TERRIFIC!!!!!!
hamelins metal is nothing
hamelins metal is nothing more than a fucking paperweight, cause we all know he didnt earn it, it was given to him by a canadian judge, for all we know he's probably his grandaddy.
I totally agree.
I totally agree.
CANADA....instead of feeling
CANADA....instead of feeling proud of winning you should feel ashamed just like someone winning because of steroids ...same thing.
What a bunch of biased bs.
What a bunch of biased bs. Why have a ref from which there are competitors. That right there already gave Canada a clear cut advantage.
Post new comment