Ohno wins bronze in short-track 1,000-meter final, becoming most decorated US Winter Olympian

Ohno becomes most decorated US Winter Olympian

VANCOUVER, British Columbia — Trailing the South Koreans and a pair of Canadian brothers, Apolo Anton Ohno had to rally on the last lap to make history.

With the gold and silver out of reach, Ohno scooted furiously past brothers Charles and Francois Hamelin to earn a bronze in the short-track 1,000-meter final Saturday night, making him the most decorated U.S. Winter Olympian.

Lee Jung-su of South Korea won and teammate Lee Ho-suk earned the silver.

Ohno’s seventh career medal broke a tie with long-track speedskater Bonnie Blair. He now has two gold, two silver and three bronze medals in his three Olympic appearances. The skater from Seattle already earned a silver in the 1,500 last weekend.

Ohno’s medals are the most of any short-track skater.

He appeared relieved as he crossed the finish line, having skated near the back of the pack early in the nine-lap race. Ohno briefly moved up to second, then dropped to last with three laps to go, forcing his rally near the end.

Ohno grabbed an American flag and skated around, then patted his long-time South Korean rivals on their shoulders.

He has two more events in Vancouver to add to his medal cache.

In the women’s 1,500 final, Zhou Yang of China easily won the gold medal.

Zhou breezed to the finish line Saturday night, well ahead of Lee Eun-byul of South Korea, who earned the silver. Park Seung-hi of South Korea took the bronze.