CHANGCHUN- Olympic champion Zhou Yang finished a disappointing 19th in the 1,500-meter race of the Chinese national short-track speed skating championships here on Friday.

Zhou, who claimed the 1,500m gold medal in the Vancouver Winter Games last year, came second in her heat and finished 19th overall in 2 minutes 30.431 seconds in the distance event held at her hometown.

"Zhou is recovering gradually. I hope that the fans could give her more time to regain her top form," said Liu Hao, the leader of national short track speed skating team.

Li Jianrou, also a national team skater, took the gold medal in 2:27.346.