Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, February 25, 1994 TAG: 9402250121
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-7 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: HAMAR, NORWAY LENGTH: Medium
The Canadians are screaming and the Chinese are protesting, but Cathy Turner - called a dirty skater by two angry opponents - is celebrating again.
Turner, one of the unlikeliest Olympic champions, survived a wild race, a bizarre awards ceremony and a formal protest by China to win the Olympic gold medal again in 500-meter short-track speedskating Thursday.
"I don't know what's going on and why everybody's mad at me," said Turner, 31, of Hilton, N.Y. "But I earned this, I really earned it. And nobody's taking it away from me."
Zhang Yanmei of China disgustedly accepted the silver medal but stormed off the awards podium when Turner pulled bronze medalist Amy Peterson of Maplewood, Minn., onto the winner's platform with her. Zhang tossed her bouquet of flowers over her shoulder and onto the ice as she walked toward her locker room.
Turner skated in an Olympic record 45.98 seconds.
She ended an eight-year layoff to take gold in Albertville and returned from a 15-month retirement to add two more medals in these Games. She anchored the United States' 3,000-meter relay bronze medalists Tuesday.
More than twice as old as South Korean finalist Won Hye-Kyung, 14, Turner has four medals in the past two Olympics, two in relays. She and long-track speedskater Bonnie Blair have six of America's 11 gold medals in the past two Winter Olympics.
But Turner's latest gold medal wasn't without protest - actually, two protests.
With two laps remaining in the 4 1/2-lap race around the 111-meter rink, Turner skated to the outside of world record-holder Zhang and brushed the Chinese skater's right leg with her left hand as the two clicked skates. Zhang's face froze in surprise and she gave up the lead - and the gold.
As soon as she crossed the finish line, Zhang pointed several times at Turner, who was celebrating before a group of screaming U.S. athletes. Chinese leaders immediately protested to referee Lena-Maria Manshanden-Jonasson of the Netherlands.
"She used her arm to grab my left leg and I lost my balance," Zhang said through an interpreter. "The TV replay shows it very clearly and very obviously."
Short-track rules prohibit contact between skaters, but collisions and bumping - and protests - are common as skaters pass or drop off the lead. Two skaters were disqualified in the men's 500-meter finals Tuesday.
China team leader Zhu Cheng Yi protested to the International Skating Union, but Manshanden-Jonasson said the result would stand.
Asked if she concurred with Canadian skater-coach Nathalie Lambert that Turner "is the dirtiest skater in short track," Zhang said, "I absolutely agree."
"Cathy Turner turns our sport into something it's not meant to be," Lambert said. "She is brutal and the judges overlook her behavior. Turner ruined three years of training for me."
Lambert was eliminated in her quarterfinal heat when she clipped Turner's skate rounding a curve, fell off the lead and couldn't recover.
"I'd rather it wouldn't have happened this way, but I just think everybody is upset that somebody who's been out of competition for a year can come back and win it," U.S. short-track coach Jeroen Otter said.
Zhang, 21, is a multi-time world champion but has had a star-crossed Olympic career. She fell in a 500-meter qualifying heat in 1992 and was eliminated, then fell again on the final lap of the women's 3,000-meter relay, costing China the gold medal.
Turner didn't understand why Zhang was so upset.
"She wouldn't shake my hand, and the Canadian skaters gave me dirty looks and tried to intimidate me," Turner said. "All I know, this is a dream come true for me. They're making a huge deal of it because I won, but I won and I'm glad I won. I knew in my heart I could win and I know in my head I deserved to win."
Turner spent eight years as a cyclist, nightclub singer and recording artist before resuming her skating career in 1990. She retired again after Albertville, only to start skating again last August after getting married and losing her job with the Ice Capades.
In men's speedskating, Andy Gabel, 29, of Pewaukee, Wis., qualified for Saturday's 500-meter semifinals by placing second in his four-man heat. The other two U.S. entries, Eric Flaim, 26, Hyde Park, Mass., and John Coyle, 25, Milwaukee, failed to advance. Flaim was the 1,500-meter silver medalist in long-track in 1988.
The U.S. 5,000-meter relay team - Gabel, Flaim, Coyle and Randy Bartz - placed second in its four-team heat to reach Saturday's finals along with Italy, Australia and Canada. Defending world champion New Zealand was last in its heat and was eliminated.
by CNB