Hamelin, Tremblay Win Gold, Bronze In Wild And Woolly Olympic 500-Metre Short-Track

Canadian Charles Hamelin has won gold and teammate Francois-Louis Tremblay took bronze in a wild short-track speedskating 500-metre final at the Vancouver Olympics on Friday.

The 25-year-old Hamelin, from Ste-Julie, Que., was leading until he was overtaken by Sung Si-Bak. But the South Korean slipped in a wild finish that saw Tremblay also go down. Hamelin almost lost his balance as he lurched across the line in front.

There was a delay as judges conferred. Then Canada got the nod and the celebrations began.

Hamelin was given the gold in 40.981 seconds, Sung the silver in 41.340 and Montreal’s Tremblay the bronze in 46.366.

Apolo Anton Ohno was disqualified for knocking Tremblay into the padded boards, a move that denied the American star a third individual medal at these Games.

Hamelin and Tremblay were ranked one and two over 500 metres this World Cup season.

Olivier Jean of Lachenaie, Que., was disqualified earlier for nearly colliding with Hamelin while trying to finish an inside pass. Ranked 10th this season, Jean did not advance to the B final.

After Hamelin failed to make the podium in the 1,500 and 1,000 metres earlier in the Games, the team began to focus on the 500 metres and the relays where they felt they had almost a guaranteed spot on the podium.

Canadians have dominated the 500 since the 2002 Salt Lake City Games, when Marc Gagnon and Jonathan Guilmette famously skated to a gold and silver. Hamelin has said that scene was his favourite Olympic memory.

Four years later in Turin, Tremblay won silver and teammate Eric Bedard finished just off the podium.

The Canadian team has recently come under scrutiny from sport insiders for falling behind countries such as South Korea and China in technique and strategy training. But the 500 metres remains their strong suit, for both the men and women, with explosive starts that are key to winning the 4.5-lap race.

Rookie Olympian Marianne St-Gelais, the girlfriend of Hamelin, won silver in the women’s 500 during the first week of the Games and Edmonton’s Jessica Gregg placed fourth.

The Canadian women won a silver Wednesday in the 500 relay.