Kim Gilli wins Olympic 1500; Corinne Stoddard takes US bronze in short-track speedskating

MILAN — South Korean speedskater Kim Gilli thought it funny earlier in the Milan Cortina Olympics when someone referred to her as Lambor-Gilli, an homage to the famous Italian sports car known for its speed.

There was nothing humorous about the way she took care of everyone in the 1,500 meters on Friday night.

Gilli denied South Korea teammate Minjeong Choi her third consecutive Olympic gold in the event, relegating her to the silver medal, while Corinne Stoddard earned a drought-ending bronze medal for the U.S. in short-track racing at the Winter Games.

“I showed everything I could do, remaining calm,” Gilli said through a translator. "I believed in myself and went for it.”

So did Stoddard, who earned the first individual medal in a short-track event for an American woman in 16 years.

Stoddard set the early pace in the final race of the Olympic program, but Choi swept to the front with two laps to go as the crowd rose to its feet. Gilli quickly went with her and the 21-year-old made the decisive pass on her teammate before crossing the finishing line.

Stoddard raised her arms in triumph as she crossed the line a split-second later for third place.

Arianna Fontana of Italy came up short in her bid to tie Norwegian cross-country skier Marit Bjørgen as the most decorated Winter Olympian with her 15th medal. After winning gold in the 2,000-meter relay and silver in the 500 meters and 3,000-meter relay earlier in her home Olympics, the 35-year-old Fontana finished fifth in the 1,500-meter finale.

“I did everything I could in this last Olympic race, but unfortunately my back pain gave me some limitations,” said Fontana, who was involved in a quarterfinal crash. "I am very happy about these Olympic Games and managing to arrive to five out of five finals and to get medals at home at 35 years old is the best I could have hoped for.”

Two of the biggest medals favorites failed to even make the finals.

Courtney Sarault of Canada, who had already won two silver medals and two bronze medals during the Milan Cortina Games, went down on her own midway through her semifinal race, spoiling her shot at finally standing on the top step of a podium.

Moments later, and at nearly the exact same spot, Xander Velzeboer of the Netherlands went down. She was chasing a third gold in the Milano Ice Skating Arena after winning the 500 meters and 1,000 meters earlier in the Winter Games.

“Don’t really know (what happened),” Sarault said. “I had a hit with someone at the start and think I lost my edge. Then the ice condition wasn’t great, so I was fighting with no edge and then not landing properly. So, when the ice chipped out, my center of gravity wasn’t really very good to fight it, so it just chipped away.”

There was a scary moment earlier in the night when Kamila Sellier crashed in the quarterfinals.

The Polish speedskater was clipped across the left eye by a competitor's blade while sliding into the wall, where she lay motionless as medics rushed to her side. She was eventually immobilized on a stretcher, but gave up a thumbs-up as she was wheeled away, leaving a trail of blood in the final corner of the track that workers had to clean during the break.

Polish officials said Sellier’s eye was OK. She received stitches at the arena before going to the hospital for more tests.

The Dutch men win more gold

The Netherlands won its first men's 5,000-meter relay at the Olympics earlier Friday night, pulling away from the Korean and Italian teams over the final two laps of the 45-lap race to add to an impressive short-track haul at the Milan Cortina Games.

Jens van 't Wout, who skated the anchor leg and celebrated as he crossed the finish line, earned his third gold medal and fourth in all, while his nation earned its fifth gold and seventh medal overall in the short-track speedskating program.

He was joined by his brother Melle van 't Wout, Teun Boer and Friso Emons in stopping the clock in 6 minutes, 51.847 seconds, giving the Netherlands a comfortable gap over their closest pursuers inside the Milano Ice Skating Arena.

““I’m just so incredibly proud of the team we have here, the team we came to the Olympics with. We’ve never been this close as a team, and I think it really shows in our overall performance,” Jens van 't Wout said. "And for me, I mean, I’ve never been happier.”

Jeongmin Lee, Juneseo Lee, Jongun Rim and Dongmin Shin managed to get past the Italian team in the final corner of the race to take the silver medal for the second consecutive Winter Games. Rim also earned individual bronze in the 1,000 meters.

Italy rounded out the podium for the host nation. Pietro Sighel, Thomas Nadalini, Luca Spechenhauser and Andrea Cassinelli were able to relegate the defending champion Canadians to fourth place in a race often described as choreographed chaos.

“We are so down to party,” Nadalini said.