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MARQUETTE - United States short track speedskaters Apolo Anton Ohno and Katherine Reutter found themselves standing on the podium during the 1,000-meter final awards ceremony Sunday at the conclusion of the International Skating Union World Cup 4 at the Berry Events Center in Marquette.

Ohno won gold in the 1,000 for the U.S. men, while Reutter took second for the women.

Ohno had to earn his way to the final by being one of the top two finishers in each round of the 1,000-meter race. Ohno was first in the first heat, first in the quarterfinal heat, and second in the semifinals before winning the final in a time of 1 minute, 25.875 seconds.

After a week of fighting sickness and a minor back injury, Ohno said he was happy with getting the gold in the 1,000.

"It feels really good. My goals before these World Cups were to be consistent, to make the finals, and to really be able to fight with some of these other countries," Ohno said. "I think I accomplished my goals, and I feel great."

Jung-Su Lee of Korea finished second and Francois Hamelin was third.

"It was a good race," Hamelin said. "It started pretty slow and all the skaters had some legs left at the end. The skater who made the best move at the end won the race, and Apolo did a great race.

"I'm happy (with my performance) because it's my first trip to the podium of the year," Hamelin added.

Hamelin's brother Charles -the World Record holder in the 1,000-meter distance - fell in the semifinal race and wasn't able to compete in the final.

Francois Hamelin said his brother will recover quickly, but that the 1,000-meter race wasn't the same without him.

"My brother had a little accident early in the day and had to sit out for the rest of the day, and we missed him."

Anthony Lobello finished in sixth place overall for the U.S. after failing to make the final with a third place finish in his semifinal heat, and teammate Travis Jayner was ninth.

For the women, Reutter dominated her way through the first heat and the quarterfinals with first place finishes, and made it to the final with a second place finish in her semifinal heat. Reutter's second place came in 1:29.941, while China's Meng Wang claimed first with a time of 1:29.723, and Korea's Seung-Hi Park was third.

Reutter said she knew she would be up against a tough foe in the finals as Wang has rarely finished lower than first in the 1,000.

"Meng Wang has been darn near undefeated in the 1,000 for nearly two years, and ever since I've been skating I've only seen her lose it three times," she said.

She added that part of her strategy was to not only try to advance her position, but also to defend it.

"I really wish I had been more aggressive and had gone for it more at the end, but the thing about the Chinese skaters is they accelerate so quickly that my biggest fear was that if I set up a pass and had gone a little bit wide, they'd accelerate faster than me and take my spot," Reutter said.

"I skated a little bit too safe, but after yesterday, I just wanted a good result because I didn't want a repeat of yesterday."

Reutter fell in the semifinal heat of the 1,500-meter race -the distance that Reutter says is 'her race' -and said that getting the silver medal in the 1,000 was a bit of redemption for her.

"I'm securely in second and this is what I've hoped for," she said. "I have nothing left over. There is no more energy left to give after that race. I don't feel like I could have done anything more."

Reutter's teammates had a tough day in the 1,000, as Kimberly Derrick finished in 17th overall place after being disqualified in her quarterfinal heat, and Allison Baver failed to get past the opening heat. Baver took 19th place overall.

Sunday was the last day of the World Cup 4, which was the second and final qualifying event for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.