Sochi, Russia (SportsNetwork.com) - China's Zhou Yang successfully defended her gold medal in the women's 1,500-meter short track speedskating event, taking the final race with a late surge Saturday at the Sochi Olympics.
Zhou trailed South Korea's Shim Suk Hee heading into the penultimate lap at Iceberg Skating Palace, but made a move to take the lead before the final time around the track. Zhou was able to hold her place and finished with a winning time of 2 minutes, 19.140 seconds -- .99 seconds ahead of Shim.
Italy's Arianna Fontana was third with a time of 2:19.416 seconds to pick up the bronze. Fontana won silver in the 500 earlier in Sochi and now has four Olympic medals.
Emily Scott of the United States placed fifth after earning a spot in the medal race due to a penalty by South Korea's Cho Ha-Ri in a semifinal race. It was ruled Cho interfered with the American while the skaters were coming around a turn.
Scott had a time of 2:39.436 in the final race.
China's Li Jianrou, who won gold in the 500 on Thursday, and South Korea's Kim Alang were involved in a crash in the final race. Kim was eliminated from medal contention for her part in the collision and Li failed to finish the race.
China and South Korea have won 10 of the 12 Olympic medals awarded in the women's 1,500 since its debut in 2002.
Receive your weekly recap of all the happenings around the world of sports.