Short track star Yang makes a graceful exit to future opportunities
(AP)
Updated: 2006-02-24 14:33

A six-time World Champion, Yang achieved star status with the victories in the 500-meter and 1,000-meter events in Salt Lake City _ China's first gold medals at a Winter Olympics.

In Turin, however, she has struggled. Her coach did not race her in the 500 meters so that younger teammates could, and she did not qualify for the finals of the 1,500. With Wednesday's team disqualification, Saturday's 1,000 remains her last chance.

Off the ice, she has shone. At a Chinese New Year party at an Internet cafe run by the Chinese computer maker whose products she endorses, Yang charmed guests, engaging in a traditional riddle game and posing for photographs.

"I'm an extrovert," Yang said.

A skater since age 8, Yang is from an isolated, industrial area not far from Siberia. She grew up, she said, in the narrowly focused world of Chinese sports academies.

Her first taste of independence came after Salt Lake City in 2002 when she took the unconventional step of leaving the national team and staying in the United States.

She spent six months at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City training and studying part-time before moving to San Francisco for full-time English study.

She tried new things _ living on her own, driving a car _ and discovered inner resources.

"It was the first time in my life that I was out on my own," she recently said.

"I had been doing sports for 21 years and either living with my family or the team. I had never made a meal for myself."