Canada wins silver in 3,000 metre short track relay

It was a fitting end to an action-packed, fast-paced event often filled with bumps and slips.

After finishing the ladies’ 3,000 metre short track relay in third, Canada was bumped up to second place after winner South Korea was disqualified.

Jessica Gregg, Kalyna Roberge, Marianne St-Gelais, and Tania Vicent skated a clean, fast race at the Pacific Coliseum on Wednesday to win the silver medal.

With South Korea’s disqualification, China took the gold medal with a world record time of 4:06.610, while the United States won the bronze.

South Korea led the race for most of the way, with China just behind them. Until about four laps remaining, the two teams were neck-in-neck.

Canada was close to the top two teams, but a gap between them opened up near the end. They sat comfortably in third throughout the race, as the United States was far back and out of contention almost the entire time.

The American team was the greatest beneficiary of the Korean disqualification, as they originally finished out of the medals.

In an event that can sometimes be confusing, with competitors circling inside the track and being pushed from behind to enter the 27-lap race, skaters cannot impede each other on the relay exchanges. They typically change skaters every couple laps.

Ultimately, Korea was disqualified for a rule infraction.

Korea had been going for five gold medals in a row, as they have won the 3,000 metre relay at the past four Olympics.

Meanwhile, Canada continued its streak of finishing on the podium in this event, as the ladies relay team has medalled in each Olympics since short track speed skating was added in 1992. They have now tallied one gold, three silvers, and two bronzes in the 3,000 metre relay.

St-Gelais has had a part in both of Canada’s short track medals at these Games, as she also won a silver medal in the 500 metres on Feb. 17.

A spill-filled B final was won by the Netherlands, who finish in fourth place overall. All four teams in the B final completed the race, but there were several falls on the part of the skaters who had just finished an exchange.

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Posted: Feb 25 2010 12:11 am
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