介绍:
Short track speed skater Li Jianrou claimed China's first gold medal in the Sochi Olympics after other competitors crashed in the women's 500 meter final. But was the gold medal really unexpected?
CRI's Olympics correspondent Ding Lulu brings us the story.
Reporter
27-year-old Li Jianrou won her first Olympic medal in a dramatic ladies 500 meter short track speedskating final.
Her success brought China its first gold medal at the Sochi Winter Games.
"As for me, I'm really proud that I won a precious gold medal for China. Before, I actually hoped that the Chinese national flag can be raised because of my effort and my winning, that's the really important for me."
Some say the monumental crash helped produce the unlikeliest of champions in the ladies 500 meter short track as Li was in fourth place when the three-skater crash occurred letting her breeze by the fallen trio to take hold of the gold.
But Bulgarian short track star Evgenia Radanova, twice Olympics silver medalist, told me she wasn't surprised to see Li winning the medal at all.
"Do you think it came as a surprise or unexpected for the Chinese athlete to win that gold medal?"
"No. or me, the surprise is that only one Chinese girl was on the final, but we saw on the semi-final, two of the Chinese girls fell. I'm not surprised cause I know this young girl, she skate very well, she's a super sprinter, I'm very happy for her. I'm happy to see China defends the Olympic title for China, I know what it means for your country. "
Li Jianrou's coach Li Yan also said surprises are what the competition is made of.
"This is the short track competition. What we can do is just do our best.
LI Jianrou has been preparing for the competition for a long time, especially after Wang Meng was injured two weeks before the Winter Olympics. She's skating not only for herself, but also for her teammate Wang Meng."
Referees have determined British athlete Elise Christie caused the crash and was disqualified minutes after the race concluded.
Christie couldn't hold back her tears but admits that this is somewhat common for short track.
"Obviously I got penal A as a result of the crash, I can't change it now. So, it's just the way short track goes. A lot of accident happen of course, it's the Olympics and it's short track, everyone is just going forward as much as she can and no one is settling for whatever position they are in, so there's a lot of crashing today definitely."
As a result, Vancouver 2010 bronze medalist Arianna Fontana from Italy won the silver and South Korea's Park Seung-Hi finished third for bronze.
LI finished in 45.263 seconds, nearly six seconds ahead of Fontana.
When asked how unbelievable the result is, Li spit out the truth of the Olympic spirit.
"Things happen as if they were somehow arranged, but as long as we continue to believe and keep trying, opportunity always favors those who are prepared."
This is the only event at the Olympic Winter Games that China has won four times.
