What a closing night at short track! Wang wins third gold medal, Canada picks up two wins

Canada wins two golds, Wang get her third

VANCOUVER, British Columbia — Carrying the hopes of his family, his girlfriend and an entire nation, Charles Hamelin took it down to the wire at the short track.

What a finish!

The closing night of roller derby on blades turned into a Maple Leaf celebration, led by the shaggy Quebecer who dealt with bitter disappointment in his first two Olympic races. Hamelin made up for it Friday. One gold medal, then another, fulfilling all the expectations heaped upon him leading up to the Vancouver Games.

“I cannot ask for anything better,” Hamelin said. “I planned to come home with an individual and a relay medal. Now to have them both be gold is better than I could have asked for.”

Wang Meng couldn’t ask for much more, either.

The Chinese skater won her third gold medal, leaving these games as the undeniable short track star after besting teammate Zhou Yang. Both had two golds apiece going into the final women’s event, the 1,000 meters, but Zhou was disqualified for a daring move with three laps to go, and she finished last anyway.

The Americans had plenty to cheer about as well.

Apolo Anton Ohno bounced back from a disqualification in the 500 meters, the race that Hamelin won, to skate the anchor leg of a bronze-medal showing in the 5,000 relay, also won by the home team.

Katherine Reutter picked up her second medal of the games, taking silver in the 1,000 after coming up short in a furious dash to the finish against Wang.

“I feel complete,” said Reutter, wearing her latest medal around her neck and an American flag around her shoulders.

So does Ohno, who claimed his eighth Olympic medal to extend his own mark as the most decorated short track skater and U.S. Winter Olympian. He was glad to share this one with his teammates.

“This is very important for me,” he said. “I train with these guys year-round. They pour their heart and soul into this sport as well. That is what I said from the very beginning — I want to be able to share a medal with these guys — and we did. We delivered.”

Hamelin came into the Vancouver Games as Canada’s best hope for short track glory, but he had only finished fourth in the 1,000 and seventh in the 1,500. Meanwhile, his girlfriend and teammate Marianne St-Gelais had won two silvers.

Most disappointing for Hamelin was the 1,000. He made it to the five-man final along with his little brother Francois, but they both missed out on a medal when Charles was fourth, his sibling last.

All that was forgotten in the frenetic 500 final — basically an all-out sprint for 4½ laps around the hockey-sized rink.

Hamelin slipped by South Korea’s Sung Si-bak coming off the final turn, then held on when Sung lost an edge and crashed into the padded boards.

Right behind them, Ohno was trying to get inside Canada’s Francois-Louis Tremblay, but wound up knocking him into the boards — a move that got the American DQed, denying him a third individual medal after he came across the line second.

Hamelin didn’t win points for style, spinning around backward and nearly falling himself as he flailed across the line. Sung slid through for the silver. Tremblay got up to finish and received a bronze for his effort.

“It was a weird finish,” Hamelin said, “but a good result.” And a true family moment.

In addition to having his brother for a teammate, his father Yves is director of the Canadian short track program. And St-Gelais was there, too, cheering from the side of the rink.

When the official results were posted, Hamelin hopped atop the padded boards to hug and kiss his girlfriend. They both had medals to cherish.

“I am sure that everyone is going crazy right now,” Hamelin said. “We will celebrate our moment.”

Ohno said he didn’t deserve to be disqualified, claiming that he put his right hand out merely to protect himself as he surged on Tremblay, looking to make the pass.

“I thought I had eight,” Ohno said, referring to medals.

He did before the night was done. Coming back for the relay, he teamed with J.R. Celski, Travis Jayner and Jordan Malone to linger behind the three front-runners through most of the 45-lap race, then blew past a Chinese skater who went wide off the final turn to get the bronze.

Ohno held up eight fingers for a crowd that cheered him nearly as loudly as it did the Canadians. After all, he grew up about three hours away in Seattle, a lot closer to Vancouver than Hamelin’s Montreal home.

But this night belonged to the hosts.

Hamelin joined with his brother, Olivier Jean and Francois-Louis Tremblay to give the Canadians their second gold of the night, sending the fans at Pacific Coliseum into a frenzy.

The South Korean team of Kwak Yoon-gy, Lee Ho-suk, Lee Jung-su and Sung Si-bak held on for silver. Kwak got to the line just ahead of Ohno, who slipped inside for the bronze.

On the medal stand, the Hamelin brothers stood side by side, each receiving a gold.

“To do it with my brother in the relay is incredible,” Charles said.

Added their proud father, “It is incredible. Like a bedtime story.”

Wang had been suffering from a cold in recent days. She had a hacking cough, was sweating heavily and drinking from a water bottle as she spoke to reporters, somewhat breathlessly.

“It was not an easy win,” she said. “I feel really tired, exhausted.”

Wang added to her golds in the 500 and 3,000 relay, while Reutter won her second medal of the Vancouver Games. She had been part of the U.S. relay team that won a bronze. South Korea’s Park Seung-hi finished third in the 1,000 for bronze.

“I feel like I’ve been initiated in this club and not really many people are there,” Reutter said, who giddily tossed her flowers into the crowd after the medal ceremony.

One problem, though: How to prevent her Olympic medals from banging together and getting scratched.

“I can’t think of a better problem to have,” Reutter said. “I put absolutely everything I had on the line and it paid off.”