Source: CCTV.com

01-26-2007 16:57

Liu Cuijia (R)

At the Australian Open, defending champions Zheng Jie and Yan Zi have failed to make it through to the women's doubles final at Melbourne Park. But her gold medal win in the women's 1,000 meter event was a rather lucky one.

Two South Korean skaters, Kim Hye-Kyung and Cho Ha-Ri, established the dominance from beginning of the race, which made it difficult for Chinese skater Liu Cuijia.

However, Kim Hye-Kyung was fouled for pushing her teammate on the last lap before finishing the race first. Liu Cuijia, who overtook Cho Ha-Ri after the pushing, finished in second. But the gold medal was then awarded to Liu Cuijia after Kim Hye-Kyung's gold medal was taken away from her for her misdoing.

Cho Ha-Ri won the silver while Italy's Marta Capurso took the bronze.

Liu Cuijia said "Everyone has a chance to win, if you don't give up. I did my best during the whole race."

Coach Xin Qingshan said "She had a good fortune today. If the two South Korean skaters didn't make the contest against each other, we may only get the bronze. Anyway, this kind of sport contains many suddennesses and dramatic changes. It's hard to forecast. But all in all, She performed good today."

The men's 1,000m short-track speed skating final was an all-South Korean affair. And Sung Si-Bak had the better on the spring to beat his compatriots for the gold medal.

Editor:Du Xiaodan