VANCOUVER, British Columbia — Just because Jordan Malone didn’t compete on Wednesday night doesn’t mean his chances at earning a medal at the Vancouver Olympics decreased.

Associated Press

The South Korean, Italian, United States and French teams compete during the first men's 5000m relay semifinals short track skating competition on Wednesday at the Winter Olympics in Vancouver, British Columbia.

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In fact, Malone was able to advance to the finals as part of the men’s 5,000-meter relay team without ever taking the ice at Pacific Coliseum.

U.S. national team coach Jae-su Chun said that Malone didn’t skate because he simply wanted to usethe opportunity to rotate some younger skaters into the lineup for Wednesday’s semifinals.

Similar to track and field relays, teams in short track are able to switch out skaters between the semifinal and final rounds. And when the U.S. competes for the gold medal on Feb. 26, Chun expects Malone to be in the quartet.

“He’s a strong skater. In the semifinals, we can use some skaters who don’t have a lot of experience,” Chun said. “Jordan has a lot of experience. We’re strong enough to advance in the semis with some new skaters. In the finals, unless something happens, we will use Jordan.”

Chun can still alter his plans up until the day of the relay final, when he must choose his team.

Malone is competing in his first Olympics, but he has more experience on the World Cup circuit than teammates J.R. Celski and Simon Cho, who joined Apolo Anton Ohno and fellow Olympic newcomer Travis Jayner on the U.S. team that finished second to South Korea in a semifinal heat.

Now Malone will have to wait until next Wednesday, when the heats for the 500 begin, to atone for a disappointing Olympic debut that saw him disqualified during his preliminary heat in the 1,500 on Saturday.

Skating against the U.S. in the relay final will be South Korea along with Canada and China, who advanced from the other semifinal heat on Wednesday. France also advanced because Italy was disqualified for causing a spill in the first semifinal.

That means there will be five teams — and 20 skaters total — on the ice in what should be a chaotic and highly competitive relay final. South Korea is the defending gold medalist, while the U.S. took the bronze in 2006.

“It’s nice when things go according to plans,” Jayner said. “It’s a great team. It goes to show the depth in our country is awesome right now, and it’s fun to be a part of this team at this level.”

Ohno and Celski, who won the silver and bronze medals, respectively, in the 1,500 on Saturday, each advanced to the quarterfinals of the 1,000 on Wednesday.

Ohno easily won his preliminary heat, while Celski rallied to take the second qualifying spot in a heat that also included 1,500 gold medalist Lee Jung-su of South Korea. The 1,000 quarterfinals, semifinals and finals are slated for Saturday.

The day’s results brought Ohno closer to becoming the most decorated Winter Olympian in U.S. history. Currently his six medals dating back to 2002 is tied for the most ever by an American.

“I try not to think about it,” Ohno said. “It’s nice that I have six medals from three different Olympic games in a sport where it’s kind of crazy just to get one medal. I’m here because I love what I’m doing.”

Jayner was eliminated during the preliminary heats in the 1,000 with the type of bad luck that goes with the territory in the unpredictable sport of short track. After leading for most of the race, Jayner clipped a marker on the final turn with his skate and lost his balance, allowing Italy’s Nicolas Bean to edge him out for the second qualifying spot.

The only short track medals given out Wednesday were in the women’s 500, an event that has belonged to Chinese skater Wang Meng on the world stage for the past couple of years.

Meng established a new Olympic record in the 500 quarterfinals and semifinals, and then won a gold medal in the final. Marianne St-Gelais, one of two Canadians in the final, took the silver.

Meng set the prior Olympic mark on Saturday in the preliminary heats. Meng also is the world-record holder in the event, registering a 42.609 during a race in 2008 in Beijing.

Briefly…

Sung Si-bak of South Korea set a new Olympic record in his 1,000 heat, breaking the mark of countryman Ahn Hyun-soo that was set in 2006 in Turin, Italy. …Latvia’s Haralds Silovs is the only skater competing in both short track and traditional long-track speed skating in Vancouver. On Saturday, he competed in both events on the same day, finishing 20th in the 5,000. On Wednesday, he advanced to the semifinals in the 1,000 in short track. … American fans cheered when it was announced that Shani Davis won a gold medal in the 1,000 long-track event on Wednesday. Davis has competed in short track for much of his career.

TODD JORGENSON can be reached at 940-566-6871. His e-mail address is tjorgenson@dentonrc.com .