(Adds word also in paragraph 6 on relay qualifiers)
By Gianluca Semeraro and Francesca Landini
MILAN, Feb 14 : Italian skater Arianna Fontana on Saturday moved a step closer to her 14th career medal which would make her Italy’s most decorated Olympic athlete, by advancing in two of the three events she has left at these Games.
Fontana, who has already won gold and silver at the Milano Cortina Games, needs one more medal to become Italy’s most decorated Olympian of all time, surpassing fencer Edoardo Mangiarotti, who won 13 medals between 1936 and 1960.
She qualified for the quarter-finals of the women’s 1000 metres short track and the final of the women’s 3000 metres relay with the Italian team.
In the women’s 1000 metres heat, Fontana stayed with the leading group before taking control with two laps to go and crossing the line first.
Dutchwoman Xandra Velzeboer, the 500 metres gold medallist, her sister Michelle, Canadian Courtney Sarault, South Korean Choi Min-jeong and Kim Gil-li, and American Kristen Santos-Griswold also advanced to the quarter-finals.
The Netherlands, South Korea and Canada also qualified for the women’s relay final. The quarter-finals, semi-finals and final of the women’s 1000 metres short track are scheduled for Monday, while the relay final is set for Wednesday. The women’s 1500 metres, the last race in which Fontana will compete, is scheduled for Friday, February 20.
(editing by Keith Weir)