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China finished in 14th place on the 20th Winter Olympic Games medal tally with two golds, four silvers and five bronzes. The Turin Games ended on Monday.

Snow events are typically dominated by the Europeans. This leaves short-track speed skating events as the only hope for a medal for Asian competitors, with China and South Korea going head to head for the top spot in Asia.

But despite its first gold medal on snow won by Han Xiaopeng in the men's freestyle skiing aerials, China only collected one gold, one silver and three bronzes for short-track speed skating.

In 2002, short-track speed skater Yang Yang (A) struck gold in the women's 500m and 1000m to help China match South Korea's haul of two golds at the Salt Lake Winter Olympics.

But South Korea outclassed China this time around, reclaiming its position as Asia's winter sports powerhouse. They placed 7th on the medal tally by pocketing six golds, three silvers and two bronzes, 10 of which were won in short-track speed skating events.

Wang Meng, 20, won the women's 500m event, China's only gold on ice in Turin.

"Many people said that China lost to its arch rival South Korea in three competitions (women's 1000m, 1500m and 3000m relay). I'm really uncomfortable about hearing that," she said, denying South Korea's dominance.

However, what made her so uncomfortable was true. South Korea won six of eight short-track golds. And in a dramatic women's 1000m final, China and South Korea each had two representatives. Wang and her veteran teammate Yang Yang led through the early stages, only to find 17-year-old Jin Sun-yu of South Korea overtake them on the penultimate turn to cross the finish line first and snatch the gold from under their noses.

South Korea started focusing on training short-track speed skaters in 1992 when they grabbed golds in the men's 1,000m and 5,000m (4x1250m) relay at the Albertville Winter Olympics. These disciplines were even included in the national education curriculum.

By contrast, China lacks a constant supply of bright young skaters, with most athletes coming from only a few places like the northeast provinces of Liaoning, Heilongjiang and Jilin. Things have taken a turn for the worse for China as Yang Yang has announced her retirement after taking the bronze at the 1,000m event in Turin.

"This is my last race," Yang said. "I'm very happy. I'm done with skating. I'm very happy with what I've done and what I've got."

But even more fundamental than a lack of talent is China's outdated training methods and techniques.

"The gap between (China and South Korea) is even bigger now, especially in relation to techniques," said Tong Lixin, leader of the Chinese short-track team. Chinese athletes are good at starting while the Koreans are more competitive in terms of endurance and speed.

"Korean skaters like Lee Ho-Suk, Jin Sun-yu and Ahn Hyun-soo have demonstrated a new realm of short-track skills," Tong said, adding that to learn how they navigate around the track is something that Chinese athletes have to start learning from age 12.

With the Short-track World Championships coming up in March, Lan Li, vice director of the speed skating administration center, has yet to find a better training solution. "Currently we have coaches from South Korea working with local teams, but we haven't yet decided whether to have a Korean coaching the national team."

(China.org.cn by Li Xiao, February 28, 2006)