Chinese speed skater Yu wins bronze in Calgary

China's Yu Jing captured a bronze medal in the 500 meters Ladies Division A race at the Essent ISU World Cup speed skating event on Saturday.

South Korean Lee Sang-hwa flirted with the Harbin sprinter's world record to win the race ahead of American Heather Richardson.

Skating at Calgary's Olympic Oval, the same Alberta rink where Yu became the first woman to go under 37 seconds a year ago at the World Sprint Championships with a time of 36.94, the 27-year-old could only post a 37.28 performance, just behind Richardson (37.12) and Lee who took the gold in 36.99.

China's Wang Beixing was seventh with a time of 37.66.

In the sixth leg of the 2012-2013 ISU World Speed Skating season, an event featuring 130 athletes from 22 countries and regions, Yu was also fourth in the 1,000m Division A race, finishing in 1:14.13. Richardson, currently tied for second overall in the Grand World Cup standings, won gold with a 1:13.09 performance, ahead of current world record holder Christine Nesbitt of Canada (1:13.67) and American Brittany Bowe (1:13.92).

Wang, the bronze medallist in the 500m at the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Winter Games, struggled to an 18th-place finish in 1:16.27.

Other results for Chinese skaters saw Qi Shuai (1:18.50) finish 17th in the 1,000m Ladies Division B, as Russian Yekaterina Lobysheva won in 1:14.94.

Mu Zhongsheng (35.64) was 20th in the Men's Division B 500m as Russian Denis Koval (34.79) took the gold ahead of Canada's William Dutton (34.89).

In a tight 500m Men's Division A race, Jan Smeekens of the Netherlands emerged the winner with a time of 34.32, just ahead of Finland's Pekka Koskela (34.36) and Canadian Jamie Gregg.