Wang Meng takes women's 1,000m silver

Olympic champion Wang Meng of China finally made a podium finish in the ISU World Cup 1,000m short-track speedskating event on Saturday in Shanghai after failing to qualify for the 1,000m final in the previous three legs.

Wang and teammate Liu Qiuhong trailed South Korean Park Seung-Hi and British Elise Christie for the most time of the 1,000m final, but in the last meters Wang surpassed Christie with a strong sprint to finish the second in 1:30.558.

Park brought home a gold at 1:30.454, while Christie was third in 1:30.582. Liu was fourth in 1:31.842.

"I tried to cooperate with Liu in the final, but there was almost no space left on the inside lane," said Wang. "So I had to wait till Christie slowed down. I found the chance in the last meters to surpass her. She was the No. 1 in the 1,000m last year."

Wang, who was expelled from the national team last August for punching team manager Wang Chunlu after breaking the team rules, had her suspension lifted in September and has dominated the 500m event in the ISU World Cup with a hat-trick of victories at the previous three legs. Yet, meanwhile she could not make to the 1,000m final consecutively.

"I am satisfied with the silver," said the 27-year-old Wang, who has four Olympic gold medals under her belt. "It was my first 1,000m final of this season and I finished with a medal. I think it is good enough."

In the men's 1,000m final, Chinese Liang Wenhao also earned a silver medal in 1:27.198. South Korea's Kwak Yoon-Gy won the gold in 1:27.028, and Niels Kerstholt of the Netherlands had a bronze in 1:27.241.

The 2012/2013 ISU World Cup Short Track includes six stops in Calgary, Montreal, Nagoya, Shanghai, Sochi and Dresden. The Shanghai leg runs from Dec. 7 to 9.