Canada's Hamelin wins gold in 1,500-meter short track speedskating competition
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Sochi, Russia (SportsNetwork.com) - Canadian Charles Hamelin held off China's Han Tianyu and Russia's Viktor Ahn to win the men's 1,500-meter short track speedskating competition on Monday.
Hamelin turned in a time of 2 minutes, 14.985 seconds to secure his fourth Olympic medal, including his third gold. The 29-year-old won gold in the 500 and 5,000-meter relay in Vancouver after earning silver as part of Canada's relay squad in Turin.
The 17-year-old Han crossed the finish line in 2:15.055 to secure silver, followed closely by Ahn, who became the first Russian ever to earn a medal in short track.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Ahn won gold in this event in 2006 for South Korea, but failed to qualify for the 2010 Olympics and after a falling out with his home country, the 28-year- old Russian citizen decided to compete for this year's host nation.
American J.R. Celski finished just outside of medal contention in fourth.
The final for the women's 3,000-meter relay was also decided Monday, with Korea, Canada, China and Italy making up the four teams competing for gold.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Korea turned in the top time of 4:08.052 to win the first heat, followed closely by Canada.
China, which edged Canada for gold in this event in Vancouver, won the second heat with a time of 4:09.555, while Italy secured the last spot in the final with a time of 4:11.282.