Goodwill Games

February 18, 2000

Short Track Speedskater Radanova of Bulgaria Sets Unofficial World Record in Women's 500m

LAKE PLACID, NY - Speedskating was electric at Lake Placid's Olympic Arena today with a new unofficial world record in the women's 500m race, a second gold for Canadian speedskater Francois-Louis Trembley and a two-day total of six medals for the Chinese Team.

The Women's 500 meter record was shattered twice by Bulgarian Evgenia Radanova in the second day of speedskating. Radanova set the world record in the semi-finals with a time of 44.415, which she surpassed in the finals with a winning time of 43.873. Silver and bronze went to Chinese teammates Chunlu Wang and Yang Yang (A). Wang's silver-medal skate clocked in at 44.368, followed by Yang (A), the winner of yesterday's Women's 1000 meter race, who finished at 44.414.

Trembley's time of 1:32.298 beat China's Yulong An in the Men's 1000 meter race by less than one-tenth of a second to capture his second gold medal of the inaugural Winter Goodwill Games. China again took both the silver and bronze with An's finish of 1:32.379 and Jiajun Li's time of 1:32.465.

China claimed the Women's 3000 meter relay gold, crossing the finish line with a time of 4:19.184. The Canadians put forth a strong effort but couldn't pass China's Yang (A) in the final lap. Their silver medal was won with a time of 4:19.682, followed by Korea's finish for the bronze medal at 4:20.891.

The final race of the day, the Men's 5000 meter relay, was owned by the Canadians. With a finish time of 6:59.446, Canada outpaced the American's silver-medal time by almost three seconds. The United States team of Ian Baranski (Saratoga Springs, N.Y.), Apolo Anton Ohno (Seattle, Wash.), Dan Weinstein (Brookline, Mass.) and Rusty Smith (Sunset Beach, Calif.) finished with a time of 7:02.288. Italy earned their only medal of the speedskating competition by finishing third with a time of 7:11.283.

The Goodwill Games were founded by Time Warner Vice Chairman R.E. Turner in 1986 to ensure that the world's best athletes have the opportunity to compete in world class competition. The four previous Goodwill Games have alternated between the United States and Russia; however, future Games will be staged in countries around the world in both winter and summer formats. In addition to the Winter Goodwill Games, plans are underway for the 2001 Goodwill Games in Brisbane, Australia. TNT is the host network for both events. Goodwill Games, Inc., is a division of Turner Sports, the sports programming and production business unit of Turner Broadcasting System, Inc.

CONTACTS:

Jeff Pomeroy

Goodwill Games

404-827-4786

Amy Phillips

Goodwill Games

404-827-4696

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