China's Zhou Yang wins 1,500 short track gold

Published Feb. 21, 2010 5:45 a.m. ET

foxsports

Zhou Yang of China easily won the gold medal and set an Olympic record in women's 1,500-meter short track speedskating.

Zhou breezed to the finish line Saturday night in 2 minutes, 16.993 seconds, well ahead of Lee Eun-byul of South Korea, who earned the silver in 2:17.849. Park Seung-hi of South Korea took the bronze, finishing in 2:17.927.

American Katherine Reutter finished fourth.

Zhou's victory was China's second gold in women's short track. Wang Meng won the 500, but she was disqualified in the semifinals of the 1,500.

Zhou, the 18-year-old world-record holder, put her hands together in a thank-you gesture as she crossed the finish line of the eight-woman final. She is competing in her first Olympics.