OLYMPIC SPEEDSKATING Ohno captures 500-meter gold medal

The American also helped the 5,000-meter relay team win a bronze medal.
TURIN, Italy (AP) -- American Apolo Anton Ohno made this another Olympics to remember at the short track.
Leading from start to finish, Ohno upset favored South Korean Ahn Hyun-soo to win gold in the 500 meters Saturday. And before the final night was done, he skated to his third medal of these Winter Games.
With a burst at the end, Ohno passed an Italian skater to grab bronze for the Americans in the 5,000 relay.
So much for being a bust. For the second Olympics in a row, Ohno is a star.
"I've never been a 500 specialist. I've never shined consistently in this race," he said. "To lead from start to finish doesn't happen very often. For me, it was the perfect race."
Led the entire way
After two false starts by other skaters, Ohno anticipated the gun perfectly and broke away from the line clear of the other four finalists. He led the entire way and didn't have to worry about Ahn, who got caught up behind two Canadians, Francois-Louis Tremblay and Eric Bedard.
Ohno looked back once, threw up his arms and let out a scream when he crossed the line first. He jumped into the arms of a U.S. coach and grabbed an American flag for the victory lap.
"So much emotion, so much passion, everything was moving through my body," he said. "It's crazy."
Showing there were no hard feelings from Salt Lake City, Ahn came over to shake Ohno's hand in the middle of the rink.
Tremblay held on for second while Ahn passed Bedard to claim the bronze. The South Korean became the first skater to win three individual medals in short track, but he fell short of three golds after winning the 1,000 and 1,500.
"I was waiting for [Ohno] to make a mistake, but he didn't make one," Tremblay said. "Everything he did was perfect."
South Koreans win 5,000
Ahn and his South Korean teammates came back to win gold in the 5,000 relay, holding off Canada. Trailing a half-lap behind were the Americans and the Italians, basically staging their own race for third.
Ohno closed it out for the U.S., blowing past Nicola Rodigari and gliding across the line; it was the fifth Olympic medal of his career.
At Turin, Ohno got off to a shaky start, failing to qualify for the final of the 1,500 and settling for bronze in the 1,000. He was in danger of falling into the category of high-profile Americans who appeared to be falling short of expectations.
Not anymore.
Three new medals make him just the fourth U.S. Winter Olympian to win that many in a single games. He joins long-track speedskaters Eric Heiden, Sheila Young and Chad Hedrick, the Texan who joined this exclusive little club a day earlier.