Park takes gold in women's 1000m short track; Smith fourth

Sochi, Russia (SportsNetwork.com) - South Korea's Park Seung-Hi won the women's 1,000-meter short track speedskating event on Friday at the Sochi Olympics, while American Jessica Smith missed out on a medal.

China's Fan Kexin made a late charge in the final to take silver, pushing South Korea's Shim Suk Hee into the bronze spot. Smith finished just behind Shim in fourth.

Park won her third medal of the Sochi Olympics, adding to the gold she took in the women's 3,000-meter relay and a bronze claimed in the shorter 500-meter event. The 21-year-old won two bronze medals in the 2010 Games in Vancouver.

The 30-year-old Smith was pushing for a medal after being on the verge of elimination in the semifinals. She was trailing in the race, won by Park, when Canada's Valerie Maltais wiped out on the final turn despite no contact.

Fellow American Emily Scott, who came in fifth in the women's 1,500 meters, was eliminated in the quarterfinals, as was Italy's Arianna Fontana. Fontana was taking aim at a fourth medal here in Sochi, having previously taken silver in the 500 meters along with a bronze in both the 1,500 meters and 3,000 meters relay.