Ladies’ 500 m
Jianrou Li (CHN) took the title followed by Arianna Fontana (ITA) who had won bronze in Vancouver in the same distance and in Turin for the Ladies’ Relay. Seung-Hi Park (KOR) got the bronze medal.
The short track competition started with the quarter finals and eight strong skaters qualified for the semifinals including the Chinese trio Jianrou Li, Qiuhong and Kexin Fan who also skated the fastest. Seung-Hi Park (KOR), Arianna Fontana (ITA), Marianne St-Gelais (CAN), Jorien ter Mors (NED) and Christie Elise (GBR) also qualified.
During the semifinals the favorite Fan fell when the point of her blade stuck into the ice and was therefore not qualified for the Final. The skaters to qualify for the A Final where Park, Fontana, Li and Christie. The 2010 Olympic silver-medalist Marianne St-Gelais (CAN) did not qualify for the A final as she finished third in her race.
In the A Final Christie tried to pass in the second lap, however it was too tight and as she fell she took Li and Park with her. Christie and Li got up quickly and Park fell again while trying to get on her feet. Li was first to cross the line, then came Christie, Li and Park. However, Christie got a penalty for impeding and the reigning 500 m bronze medalist Fontana advanced to second place to get the silver medal and Park got the bronze. Christie’s penalty brought the winner of the exciting B-final, Qiuhong Liu, to fourth place, Kexin Wang finished behind her teammate in 5th. Jorien ter Mors was 6th, St-Gelais 7th.
Jianrou Li, 500 m winner: “I was confident, I believed in miracles, and now it came true. I hugged my coach, and I was crying. I cried because I was so excited. My coach told me this medal is for Wang Meng as well (reigning Olympic champion who has to forfeit her trip to Sochi due to injury). I felt very moved. Because I had no past experience, my preparation was for a longer distance. This gold medal is a big boost for me for future performances.” On making the A final ahead of other, more accomplished Chinese skaters Li said “They have more experience and had more chances to be in the final, it’s true, but they failed. At that moment, I was thinking I should be very quick and overtake the other contenders and be in the final.”
Arianna Fontana told the press: "I'm really happy. I came here with a goal to be in the A final and try to win. I knew that I could have won, but I fell. So, for me, this silver medal is equal to a gold medal. I better not say what I was thinking when I fell (laughs). But then I saw the Korean (bronze medalist Seung-Hi Park) fall, too, and I said to myself, 'I have to get up and try to do something to fix it.’”
Seung-Hi Park, bronze medalist commented: “It was a tough day for the Korean team. The boys were not so lucky either. We still have lots of competition waiting for us, lots of opportunities for good results.”
