Bizarre scene unfolds in women's short track relay when 2 disqualifications give silver medal to third-place team and bronze to team that wasn't even on the ice
- A wild and bizarre finish in the women's 3,000-meter short-track relay saw two disqualifications.
- The teams sat around waiting for the results as judges reviewed several laps to see if teams had impeded each other.
- Eventually, second-place China and fourth-place Canada were disqualified, moving Italy up from bronze to silver and and the Netherlands, who had won an earlier race, into the bronze medal spot.
A wild scene unfolded in the women's 3,000-meter short-track relay at the Winter Olympics on Tuesday.
A chaotic finish saw the South Korean team fall, knocking out the Canadian team and burying the Italian team well behind the pack, while South Korea' and China's final skaters raced for the gold medal.
South Korea's final skater was able to pass China on the final lap and hold onto the gold medal, but the drama was only just beginning.
In a confusing scene, judges reviewed the end of the race, trying to sort out penalties and the finishes in the race. Meanwhile, the South Korean team did a victory lap in front of a raucous crowd, while the rest of the teams sat and waited.
After several minutes, the officials announced that there were two penalties - on Canada and China for impeding.
The crowd erupted when the announcement was made, and it came with some confusing results. China was bumped from second-place, moving third-place Italy into second. And Netherlands, which wasn't even on the ice, got moved into third-place because they had won the B final in world-record time. The Netherlands team was on the side of the rink, jumping up and down with the news.
While Canada was devastated.
The Chinese team seemed disappointed with the ruling afterward, with Zhou Yang telling reporters afterward: "I think there was no problem with what we did. We're blessed to have the next Olympics in Beijing. The Beijing Olympics will definitely be fair, most definitely."