Short track - Watching Hamelin makes Ohno want to race

SOCHI, Russia (Reuters) - American short track star Apolo Anton Ohno hung up his skates last year but watching Canadian gold medallist Charles Hamelin race at the Sochi Games stirs the competitor in him. The 31-year-old, who also appeared on the television show 'Dancing with the Stars,' won eight medals in short track over the previous three Olympics - making him America's most decorated Winter Olympian. Ohno retired last April and is in the broadcast booth in Sochi, but his rink-side commentary was tinged with nostalgia as he enthused over Canadian Hamelin's skate to gold in the 1,500 metres earlier this week. "I was very impressed with the way he raced. I would have loved to have been in the race with him because I knew exactly what he was going to do," Ohno told Reuters with a laugh as he watched teams train. "I would have just stayed with Charles the whole race and waited - waited - and then passed ... I already had the whole scenario in my head." With Monday's win, Hamelin has three gold medals and a silver. "Charles is skating phenomenally right now," Ohno said. "One of his weakness in the past was that he spent too much energy at the front of the pack too early." In the 1,500m final, teenage upstart Han Tianyu of China crept up to finish second, beating out home crowd favourite Viktor Ahn, who had to settle for third. Ohno was among those blown away by the 17-year-old's performance against veteran racers at the Iceberg Skating Palace. "China had a very surprising finish ... I definitely didn't expect him to win silver," Ohno said. "Experience plays a lot and you got to have a lot of luck." Ohno should know. He was one turn away from gold in the 1,000m in 2002 when he was suddenly slamming into the boards. In one of the most unlikely medal wins of any sport, Steven Bradbury went from trailing far behind Ohno, Ahn and two others to winning Australia's first Winter Olympic gold. Ohno slithered across the line to take silver. "This is a sport where anything can happen," he said. (Reporting by Alissa de Carbonnel)