Winter Sports
Notebook: Speedskater Ohno stages gold rush

By The Associated Press

Apolo Anton Ohno

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Apolo Anton Ohno of Seattle won the men's 500-meter race yesterday in Harbin, China, to take his second gold medal at the first stop on this season's World Cup short-track speedskating circuit.

Ohno finished in 43.663 seconds, beating South Korea's Lee Seung-jae (43.777) and California native Rusty Smith (43.928).

Ohno, 22, won the men's 1,500 on Friday, finishing in 2 minutes, 22.270 seconds, ahead of Ahn Hyun-soo of South Korea (2:22.414) and China's Li Jiajun (2:22.656).

Ohno's accomplishments include a gold medal in the 1,500 at the 2002 Olympics and World Cup overall titles for the 2000-01 and 2002-03 seasons.

China's Wang Meng won the women's 1,500 for her second title of the competition. There are six World Cup events this season.

Other events

• Joey Cheek of Greensboro, N.C., edged fellow Olympic medalist Casey FitzRandolph of Verona, Wis., to win the 1,500 meters at a World Cup long-track speedskating qualifier in Milwaukee.

Cheek prevailed in 1:49.56. The event determines the U.S. skaters who will race in international events this season.

Kip Carpenter of Brookfield, Wis., won a men's 500 race in 35.99. Olympic gold medalist Chris Witty of West Allis, Wis., won the women's 1,500 in 2:01.70. Elli Ochowicz of Waukesha, Wis., won a women's 500 race in 39.94.
 
• Tatiana Totmianina, a world-champion pairs skater from Russia, was listed in good condition after falling headfirst onto the ice at Skate America in Pittsburgh. Maxim Marinin had just lifted her with one hand when they lost their balance.

Totmianina was carried off the ice on a stretcher and taken by ambulance to the trauma center at nearby Mercy Hospital. The fall ended the competition.

Angela Nikodinov, a 24-year-old from San Pedro, Calif., won the women's title. Canada's Cynthia Phaneuf was second.

• Skier Anja Paerson of Sweden won the season-opening World Cup giant slalom in Soelden, Austria.

Kristina Koznick of Eagan, Minn., was fourth, matching her best result of last season. Libby Ludlow of Bellevue didn't qualify for a second run.

Paerson, who swept the World Cup giant-slalom and slalom titles last season, had a two-run time of 2 minutes, 25.21 seconds.