BEIJING (Reuters) – Ren Ziwei’s hopes of a third gold medal at the Beijing Olympics were dealt a blow as the Chinese short track speed skater was disqualified in the semi-finals of the men’s 1,500 metres on Wednesday.
Ren, who won the title in the 1,000 metres and the mixed team relay, was penalised for an arm block.
He will have another chance to achieve the treble when he takes part in the men’s 5,000 metre relay.
South Koreans Ahn Huyn-soo, who won the men’s 1,000, 1,500 and 5,000 metre relay titles in Turin and Jin Sun-yu, who claimed gold in the 1,000, 1,500 and 3,000 metre women’s relay in Turin in 2006 as well, are the only two athletes who have won three short track golds at a single Games.
(Reporting by Julien Pretot; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne)
