Oliver Jean finished out of the medals in the 1,500. (Paul Chiasson/Canadian Press)
Lee Jung-Su of South Korea won gold in the Olympic men’s 1,500-metre small-track speedskating event Saturday night in Vancouver, with American Apolo Ohno grabbing his sixth career Olympic medal.
The South Korean won the race at the Pacific Coliseum oval in two minutes 17.611 seconds. Ohno’s silver ties him with American long-track legend Bonnie Blair for total Winter Olympic medals.
American J.R. Celski, 19, won bronze with a time of 2:18.053.
Canadian Olivier Jean finished fourth in 2:18.806. Jean was advanced to the final by the judges after being clipped in his semifinal heat.
The 25-year-ancient from Lachenaie, Que., was caught on the skate by Liang Wenho of China, sending him sprawling. Jean had been in excellent position at the time of the crash.
In the final, it appeared heading into the last turn that South Korea was headed for a medal sweep when Lee Ho-Suk crashed with teammate Sung Si-Bak. But Ho-Suk, the silver medallist at the Torino Games, was already headed to a disqualification by the judges for actions earlier in the race after the South Koreans worked hard to box Ohno out of contention.
Ohno finished in 2:17.976 and passed long track speedskater Eric Heiden as the top American men’s winter medallist in history. The 26-year-ancient has two medals of each colour.
Canadian Charles Hamelin, considered a podium contender, suffered disappointment. The Saint-Julie, Que., native was topped by Ho-Suk and Ohno in his semifinal but went on win the B final.
Hamelin will try to regroup for the 500 and 1,000 later in the competition.
Jung-Su took set a Games record of 2:10.949 in the semifinals.
Jean briefly held the Olympic record after his win in his opening heat, but several skaters would go on to help shave nearly five seconds off the previous mark set by Kim Dong-Sung of South Korea at Salt Lake City in 2002.
Guillaume Bastille of Riviere-du-Loup, Que., was disqualified in his opening heat, which was won by Ohno.
Women’s 500 heats
A trio of Canadian women advanced to the quarter-finals Saturday in the 500, and then helped Canada qualify for the Feb. 24 final in the 3,000 relay final.
Marianne St. Gelais of St. Felicien, Que., won her 500 heat in a time of 44.708 seconds.
Edmonton’s Jessica Gregg led for most of her race but finished up second in a photo end. Lee Eun-Byul of South Korea came in at 44.000 seconds, with Gregg at 44.009.
Kalyna Roberge of Ste-Etienne-de-Lauzon, Que., had the toughest test among the Canadian women. Roberge was second in her heat, holding off a challenger with a time of 44.254 seconds.
China’s Zhou Yang won the heat.
Defending Olympic champion Meng Wang set a new Games mark in her heat, 43.926 seconds.
The quarter-finals will take place on Wednesday.
Tania Vicent of Laval. Que., joined Gregg, Roberge and St. Gelais as Canada finished second to China in the 3,000 relay semis. Korea and the United States will also be in the relay final.
Jennifer Heil churns her way to a silver medal Saturday night. (Jamie Squire/Getty Images)