Wang Meng wins women's 500m in short-track World Cup

SOCHI, Russia, Feb. 2 (Xinhua) -- Four-time Olymic champion Wang Meng claimed her fifth World Cup win coming back from a ban when she won the 500 meters short track speedskating here on Saturday.

The Chinese 28-year-old took the title in 43.231 seconds ahead of Ariana Fontana of Italy and fellow teammate Liu Qiuhong at the Iceberg arena, which will host the short-track and figure skating events during the Sochi Olympics next year.

Wang was banned for 13 months in 2011 as she broke the team curfew and drunkenly punched team manager in the following brawl. Her ban was lifted in September last year.

In other events, Shim Suk-hee of South Korea continued her domination in the women's 1,500m, claiming her fifth victory of the season with a time of 2:26.338. Li Jianrou of China clocked 2:26.518 for second and Elise Christie of Britain came third in 2:26.696.

Double Olympic champion Charles Hamelin claimed his second short-track speedskating World Cup victory of the season by winning a men's 500m race.

The Canadian won in 41.092 and Wu Daijing of China clocked 41.095 for second, while Russia's Vladimir Grigorev was third in 41.165.

Noh Jinkyu led a South Korean sweep of the podium in the men's 1,500m, recording 2:17.482 for his fourth win of the season. Kim Yun-Jae was second and Kwak Yoon-Gy third.

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