Apolo Anton Ohno refuses to rule out Sochi 2014

From Sportsbeat staff, in Vancouver

 APOLO Anton Ohno may have become the USA's most decorated Winter Olympian of all time in Vancouver - but he's not ruling out one more assault on the five-ringed circus.

PLOUGHING ON: The USA's Apolo Anton Ohno has eight Winter Olympic medals to his name but is contemplating carrying on until Sochi 2014 (Getty Images)

The 27-year-old short track speed skater endured mixed feelings on Friday at the Pacific Coliseum after he was stripped of 500m silver, disqualified for causing a pile-up on the final bend.

He returned to the ice however to clinch 5000m relay bronze along with Simon Cho, JR Celski and Travis Jayner, adding to the 1500m silver and 1000m bronze all ready captured in Vancouver and take his overall tally to eight.

At these Games, Ohno has surpassed speed skater Bonnie Blair's all time American Winter Olympic medal haul of six. He is also not short of extra curricular activities in his busy schedule, having already taken part in, and won hit US TV show Dancing with the Stars.

Ohno will be 31 at Sochi 2014 so retirement appears the obvious route, but he insists he has not drawn a line under his career just yet.

"I think I'm always going to be involved in short track in one way or another," said Ohno.

"If you're asking if I'm going to compete in Sochi, I have no idea. Never say never.

 "Right now, I'm just enjoying this moment with these guys. I need a break from this sport, but it's been very good to me.

"In our sport, we compete starting at the beginning all the way to the end of the Games. I was one of the guys competing in all the distances, and your body gets fatigued. But being an Olympic athlete, you have to be strong.

"Some days when you wake up you feel great, others you feel bad. This morning I felt good, but when the gun went off, it looked like I was starting a nuclear reactor with how slow my start was."

Ohno's disqualification in the 500m handed silver to Korean world record holder Si-Bak Sung, but Canada's Charles Hamelin, the reigning world champion, had already blitzed his way to gold.

And Hamelin returned to the ice to team up with younger brother Francois Hamelin, Olivier Jean and eventual 500m bronze medallist Francois-Louis Tremblay to capture his second gold medal in the space of just half an hour.  

"The finish was fantastic too when he Si-Bak Sung fell in front of me. It was incredible. I thank all my friends here," he said.

"It's just impossible to describe the feeling. In all my life I think I will never live another moment like this. I won two Gold medals in 30 minutes."

It completed an excellent Games for Hamelin, who had already seen girlfriend Marianne St Gelais collect silver in 500m and the 3000m relay.

"She must feel like a princess," he added. "We're going to put our medals on the wall and it will look really nice."

 AS IT HAPPENS: Day 15 of the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver