Schulting wins gold in women's 1000 metres short track

GANGNEUNG, South Korea, Feb 22 (Reuters) - Suzanne Schulting of the Netherlands won the 1,000 metres gold in women's Olympic short track speed skating ahead of Canada's Kim Boutin who captured her third medal of the Pyeongchang Games on Thursday.

Italy's Arianna Fontana, who won the gold in women's 500 metres, took bronze in the final, which featured a dramatic wipeout by the two South Korean favourites, Shim Sukhee and Choi Minjeong.

As they rounded the second-to-last turn and were attempting a move up from their positions at the rear of the pack, they bumped into one another slid into the sidewall. Shim was assessed a penalty for impeding.

"At the end we got tangled, and I think then we fell down," Shim said. "I feel sorry for that and at that moment I was worried if Minjeong got hurt. She said she’s OK, but I still feel sorry for her."

Choi won the gold in women's 1,500 metres.

Schulting, who finished seventh in 1,500 metres, led from about the midway point after jockeying back and forth with Boutin in the early laps.

Fontana held on in third while the two Koreans were positioned at the back after they made an early attempt to move up on the inside, but it did not pan out.

"It feels great. I didn’t think it could be possible, you know the 1,000 metre is not my best race, but today I started good and I felt good," Fontana said.

For Boutin, the result was a step up from her two previous bronze finishes in the women's 500 and 1,500 metres.