Ohno advances in chase to make US Olympic history

Published Feb. 13, 2010 8:39 p.m. ET

foxsports

Apolo Anton Ohno has easily advanced through the preliminaries of 1,500-meter short track, moving closer to getting a shot at tying Bonnie Blair as the most decorated U.S. Winter Olympian.

Ohno, who won a total of five medals at the last two Olympics, spent most of the 13 1/2-lap race cruising at the back of the pack. Then, with less than three laps to go, Ohno turned on the speed and went around four other skaters to take over first place.

When a crash took out a couple of skaters behind him, Ohno coasted across the line far ahead of everyone else to advance to the semifinals later Saturday.