Wu, Zang add to China gold tally
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E-mail Shanghai Daily, February 22, 2017
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China's Wu Dajing in action en route to winning the 500-meter short track speed skating final at the Asian Winter Games in Sapporo yesterday. |
China claimed two gold medals in short track speed skating at the Asian Winter Games yesterday while Japan won four titles in speed skating.
Wu Dajing, who won silver in the men's 1,500 meters on Monday, won gold in the men's 500 meters in a time of 40.764 seconds, edging South Korea's Seo Yi-ra by .078 seconds. Park Se-yeong was third in 41.182.
"The race was quite difficult," said Wu, a two-time world champion in the 500. "The South Koreans pressured us a lot over the final two laps and I almost lost my balance on the final lap."
Wu's compatriot Zang Yize won gold in the women's 500, clocking a time of 43.911. Ayuko Ito of Japan was second in 44.236 while Choi Min-jeong of South Korea took bronze in 44.819 after her compatriot Shim Suk-hee got tangled up on the final lap with Fan Kexin of China and both were disqualified.
Nao Kodaira of Japan earned her second gold of the Sapporo Games by beating two-time Olympic champion Lee Sang-hwa of South Korea in the women's 500 on the long track.
Kodaira is unbeaten in six World Cups this season, and the winner of the 1,000 on Monday. "I wasn't at my best today, maybe 80 percent of full fitness," Kodaira said. "But I wanted to race against a strong sprinter and it was good preparation (for the 2018 Winter Olympics)."
Takuro Oda won the men's 1,000, and Miho Takagi the women's 1,500.
The Japanese team of Misaki Oshigiri, Nana Takagi, and Ayano Sato cruised to victory in the women's team pursuit. South Korea was second, and China third.
In cross-country skiing, Japan also captured the women's 10-kilometer free title through Yuki Kobayashi. Lee Chae-won of South Korea was second, 24.4 seconds back, and Yelena Kolomina of Kazakhstan was third.
Rinat Mukhim won Kazakhstan's first gold of the games by winning the men's 15-kilometer free, 4.5 seconds ahead of Naoto Baba of Japan. Akira Lenting, also of Japan, was third.
Elsewhere, the men's ski jumping event was cancelled to due to high winds.
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