Zhou regards Universiade gold as boost of confidence

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(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-02-20 18:57

HARBIN -- South Korea is the only superpower in the world when it comes to short track speedskating. However,Chinese teenager Zhou Yang collected confidence through the Winter Universiade, claiming to beating South Korea in the Vancouver Winter Olympics.

China's Zhou Yang (L) competes during the women's 1500m short track speed skating finals at the 24th World Winter Universiade in Harbin, capital of northeast China's Heilongjiang province, February 19, 2009. Zhou took the gold medal in the event. [Xinhua]

The 18-year-old Zhou took the first gold medal for the host China in the women's short track speed skating 1500 meters competition, beating other three South Korean rivals with obvious advantage.

"They are not the key skater in the national team, so I have to still keep alert to work harderin the future," said Zhou, world record holder of this event.

China's Zhou Yang (C), Liu Qiuhong (L) and Sun Linlin smile during the awarding ceremony for the women's 1500m short track speed skating finals at the 24th World Winter Universiade in Harbin, capital of northeast China's Heilongjiang province, February 19, 2009. Zhou took the gold medal of the event. [Xinhua]

"Anyway, the South Koreans here are also excellent skaters, therefore the gold medal at Universiade was really a boost of my self-confidence," she added.

The women's 1500m final turned to be a contest between China and South Korea, as each of the two powerhouses booked half of the six berths.

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24th Winter Universiade

South Korean Kim Hye Kyung, gold medalist in the Turin Universiade in 2007, took the lead in the early stage, before the top skater in the world rankings Zhou skated to dominate the group with four laps left.

Zhou's compatriot Liu Qiuhong and Sun Linlin managed to block other South Koreans' way of counterattack with Zhou clocking the fastest time of 2:31.658, which was far from her personal best of 2:16.729.

The short-haired Zhou took off the gold medal immediately after the medal awarding ceremony and put it into the box. She denied that she did not care about this gold medal.

"I have watched it carefully, so I think it is unnecessary to still wear it," she joked.

As one of the key skater in the national team, Zhou admitted that she sometimes cried when she missed home.

"We usually trained in Beijing, sometimes I missed my parents so much that I couldn't help crying," she said honestly.

"Of course, I don't always cry, just occasionally," she added.

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