Now Korea Can Say, Oh Yes

Revenge, of course, is a dish best served on ice.

For four years, seething at the gold medal that Seattle’s Apolo Anton Ohno had won at the Salt Lake City Games when a South Korean skater was disqualified for a rules violation, Korean officials have acknowledged having but one main motivation: Beat Ohno, he of the soul patch and blue bandanna.

In a classic short-track speedskating duel, a moment in Olympic history, the Koreans got their vengeance here Saturday night in the men’s 1,000-meter race, Ahn Hyun-Soo winning gold and Lee Ho-Suk silver. Ohno took bronze.

For good measure, Ahn set an Olympic record -- 1 minute 26.739 seconds -- eclipsing the mark set earlier in the night in the quarterfinals by Rusty Smith of Sunset Beach, 1:27.00. Smith finished fourth in the final.

“That really is satisfactory,” Ahn said afterward, speaking through an interpreter. “It really gives me a special feeling.”

Ohno accepted his bronze with graciousness, saying he was “extremely happy” for any medal while offering compliments to the Koreans, observing that they have “always had very strong skaters.”

Of Ahn, Ohno said, “For him to add another medal to his collection is very impressive.”

The South Koreans also won gold and silver in the women’s 1,500, Jin Sun-Yu and Choi Eun-Kyung going 1-2, Jin winning in 2:23.494. Wang Meng of China took bronze, but only after another Korean, Byun Chun-Sa, who had crossed the line third, was disqualified for a rule violation.

Both U.S. women were eliminated in the quarterfinals -- Ohno’s girlfriend, Allison Baver of Reading, Pa., and 17-year-old Halie Kim of Colorado Springs. Yang Yang (A) of China, a two-time gold medalist in 2002, was also eliminated in the semifinals.

“It’s the Olympics,” Baver said. “You wish things were good.”

Emily Rosemond of Australia was eliminated in the heats. Before departing, however, she offered a crisp summation of Olympic pressure: “It was a bit overwhelming. At first, when I heard the crowd, I went, ‘Holy crap!’ ”

The racing Saturday night at the Palavela arena attracted an A-list of Olympic personalities, including Jacques Rogge, the International Olympic Committee president, and Peter Ueberroth, the U.S. Olympic Committee chairman.

They and all the others were there in large measure because of Ohno -- and to see the next chapter in the rivalry that has revolved around Ohno and the South Korean short-track team since 2002.

Four years ago in Salt Lake City, in the men’s 1,000, Ohno led a pack of four skaters heading into the final turn. But China’s Li Jiajun fell, knocking Ahn into Ohno. Canadian Mathieu Turcotte also crashed.

That left Australian Steven Bradbury. He was so far behind that he was unaffected by the crash and cruised through the other skaters, littered on the ice, winning Australia’s first Winter Games gold medal.

Ohno scrambled to his feet just long enough to stick his blade across the finish line, winning silver.

Turcotte took bronze.

Ahn, meanwhile, got nothing.

Five days later, Ohno won a controversial gold, awarded first place in the 1,500 after another South Korean skater, Kim Dong-Sung, who had crossed the line first, was disqualified for a violation.

Ohno was later called “the most hated athlete in Korea” by a Seoul newspaper. He did not compete in South Korea for three years, and when he did, he was met at the airport by about 100 police officers in riot gear. The visit ultimately passed without incident.

Meanwhile, Ahn has emerged as one of the world’s best, a multiple world championship gold medalist, mindful that he was expected here in Turin not just to win but to beat Ohno.

At the first race here, the 1,500, there was no matchup. Ohno was eliminated in the semifinals. Ahn went on to win gold, Lee silver.

After missing the 1,500 final, Ohno said, he was “pretty devastated.” To gear up again for the 1,000, he turned to e-mails and calls from friends -- the sort, he recounted, that said, “Here and now, breathe and relax,” and, “Oh, Apolo, don’t worry about it, you’re the man.”

“For me, that’s exactly what I needed to hear,” he said, “that passion for athletes.”

Competing at the Olympics is as much a mind game as a physical contest, he said. “This is like a mental war with yourself.”

Three times, Ahn and Ohno battled Saturday, in the quarterfinals, semifinals and final.

Three times, Ahn won.

In the final, Ohno and Ahn were jockeying for position in the front of the pack when, with about a lap to go, Lee came up on them both in a rush of speed, passing Ohno. At the finish, Ahn stuck his blade out just barely in front of Lee. Ohno followed about a stride behind.

“At the speeds that we were going, I’m just looking for the slightest mistake,” Ohno said. “I’m just looking for the slightest space to be able to move up. But there was none.”

*

MEN’S 1,000 METERS

GOLD

* Ahn Hyun-Soo, South Korea

SILVER

* Lee Ho-Suk, South Korea

BRONZE

* Apolo Anton Ohno, Seattle