A Chinese coach blamed himself on Wednesday for Wang Manli's close defeat in Tuesday's Olympic women's speedskating race.

"It's all my fault," Wang's coach Xie Tian'en told a press conference called by the Chinese delegation.

Russia's Svetlana Zhurova won the title, edging pre-race favorite Wang and another Chinese Ren Hui into second and third place.

"I had paid little attention to Zhurova and didn't have a right strategy for Wang," said the 66-year-old coach.

Zhurova, who returned to the rink after a long maternity leave, had a combined time of one minute, 16.57 seconds over two 500m races, denying China's first gold in Turin.

China is now counting on short track speedskater Wang Meng to deliver the nation's first gold Wednesday night.

(Xinhua News Agency February 16, 2006)