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TORINO -- Monday, Russian speedskater Svetlana Zhurova phoned home and heard her 2-year-old son say, "Dmitry second," a reference to Dmitry Dorofeyev's silver medal in the long-track 500 meters.
Tuesday, Zhurova was eager to phone again and was hoping to hear, "Momma first."
At 34, Zhurova's gold medal in the 500 made her Russia's first female Olympic champion in any long-track speedskating event since 1994. The last time a Russian or Soviet woman won the 500 was 1968.
And while there are no official records, longtime speedskating followers said they could remember only one other mother winning an Olympic gold in the sport: Soviet Natalya Petruseva in the 1980 1,000 meters. Atje Keulen-Deelstra of the Netherlands also was a mother when she won a 1,500 bronze in 1972.
Zhurova, speaking in delightfully broken English, said, "I did two things good. It was baby and victory."
Her Olympic preparation meant that she was away when her son Yaroslav began walking at 11 months. The last few weeks, she only has been able to talk with him by phone and won't see him until March, after the final World Cup event.
Last week, Zhurova said she planned to make Yaroslav a big medal, with the words "Forgive me" on it. Tuesday, she updated that plan.
"He will be very happy if I bring him this gold medal as a present," Zhurova said. "It is the best present."
But Zhurova's victory left the silver medalist, China's Wang Manli, in tears. Zhurova's combined time from two runnings of the 500 was 1:16.57, just 0.21 of a second faster than Wang. Hui Ren of China was third, 0.3 of a second behind Zhurova.
China had won only one medal in long-track speedskating, a silver by Ye Qiaobo, in the 1992 women's 500. Wang had the season's fastest time coming into the Olympics and had been beaten only once in five World Cup 500s.
Zhurova, a four-time Olympian, was ranked No.1 in the world in the 500 in 1995-96 but had never medaled at the Olympics. At the 2002 Games, she was seventh in the 500.
For the USA, Jennifer Rodriguez placed 11th in what isn't one of her strong events and said she felt ready for her 1,000 and 1,500 races.
Chris Witty, the 2002 gold medalist in the 1,000, had her most disappointing finish in four Winter Olympics -- 28th in the 30-woman field.
Witty, the U.S. flag bearer at the opening ceremonies, said, "It's probably the most fun I've had at an Olympics, until today."
Also for the USA, Amy Sannes was 17th and Elli Ochowicz 23rd.
*Skating pioneer KC Boutiette's medal push at olympics.usatoday.com
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