Zhou repeats as Olympic champion in 1,500
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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.
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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.
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China and South Korea have won 10 of the 12 Olympic medals awarded in the women's 1,500 since its debut in 2002.