BORODULINA SHAKES OFF LOSS IN 500M
Sydney Morning Herald
Friday February 19, 2010
VANCOUVER: Four days after she failed in her first event - the 500 metres - and leaving in tears after missing the final, the coach of Australia's short-track medal hope Tatiana Borodulina says her charge has recovered mentally and is giving herself the best possible chance to win a medal.Borodulina finished third in her heat on Saturday but after studying the tape of the race and speaking to her athlete, coach Ann Zhang said Borodulina had been unfairly interfered with by Canadian Marianne St-Gelais."We watch the video and she was very unlucky," Zhang said. "The Canadian girl was racing with Tatiana, and she pulled on her. That is not allowed, [there is] no body contact in short track."St-Gelais won the heat, with British skater Sarah Lindsay finishing second.Zhang said she had considered protesting against the result but that she did not believe it was clear enough on the video to be successful."The referee won't disqualify a Canadian. We are in Canada, I think," she said.The comments come after other Australian coaches commented on Alexandre Bilodeau's victory in the men's moguls on Sunday, expressing surprise that the Canadian had scored so highly on his turns. Those comments did acknowledge that Australian Dale Begg-Smith needed to have set a faster time in the event to assure himself of victory.Zhang said Borodulina had refocused and was confident coming into her two remaining events, the 1000m and 1500m.Australia's other short-track skater, Lachlan Hay, did not progress out of his heat yesterday in the men's 1000m after finishing fourth of four skaters.
© 2010 Sydney Morning Herald
