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Alsharq Tribune-M.Essam
Italy and Canada won the respective men's and women's team pursuit speed skating gold medals at the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics here on Tuesday.
Trailing title favorite and World Cup leader, the United States, in the first five laps, the Italian team of Davide Ghiotto, Andrea Giovannini and Michele Malfatti took over the lead from the sixth lap before clocking a winning time of three minutes 39.20 seconds in Final A.
It marked the host nation's third gold medal in speed skating at these Games following Francesca Lollobrigida's triumphs in the women's 3,000m and 5,000m, and the first in `men's pursuit since Italy topped the podium at the Turin Games in 2006.
"It's exciting that it happened 20 years after. It was important to give Italy good results, because the Olympic Games are being held in Italy," said Ghiotto. "But also for the skating community as a whole, because in Italy it's a minor sport. This is the right opportunity to show the results of hard work."
"Together with Maurizio Marchetto, our coach, who is the same coach as for the Turin 2006 quartet, this has made us grow over the years. It's made us aware of potential, and it's why we achieved this result," he added.
The United States finished 4.51 seconds behind to claim silver.
Team China, composed of Liu Hanbin, Wu Yu and Li Wenhao, edged the Netherlands by 0.09 seconds to take bronze. Crossing the line in 3:41.38, China recorded its best finish since this event debuted in the 2006 Games.
"It's like a dream come true. We didn't expect to reach the podium," said Li, who was making his Olympic debut. "Even when the result appeared on the big screen, we weren't sure about our victory in Final B. Then we saw our coach celebrating, and we realized we had secured the medal."
In the women's team pursuit Final A, Canada defeated the Netherlands to retain the title, while the Netherlands and Japan finished second and third, respectively.
