China's Li avoids pile-up to win women's 500m short track
Sochi (Russia) (AFP) - China's Li Jianrou steered clear of a three-skater crash to win gold in the women's 500m short track final at the Winter Olympics on Wednesday.
Reigning gold medallist Wang Meng did not compete after breaking her ankle last month but Li, 27, kept the title in Chinese hands after her three rivals crashed on the first lap of 4.5-lap final.
She timed 45.263sec to finish nearly six seconds ahead of Italy's Arianna Fontana, the bronze medallist from Vancouver in 2010, who took silver in 51.250.
Despite an initial false start Park Seung-Hi of South Korea took bronze in 54.207.
Referees decided Britain's Elise Christie caused the crash, and she was disqualified minutes after the race.
Canada's Marianne St. Gelais, the Vancouver silver medallist failed to qualify for the A final, with China's Liu Qiuhong winning the B final to finish fourth.
