TURIN, Italy — Apolo Anton Ohno already has an Olympic resume that includes crashes, disputed rulings and boneheaded mistakes.

Wonder what will happen in the men's relay final — five teams and 20 skaters, circling the hockey-sized rink like sharks?

"It's really going to be crazy," Ohno's teammate, Rusty Smith, said Wednesday, already looking ahead to a race more than a week away. "It's going to be the highlight of the games. It's going to be a rough race. Something is going to happen, and we hope we're not a part of it."

Ohno managed to avoid any problems on the second night of short track, which was his main objective with no medals on the line for the men.

He easily advanced from the heats of the 1,000 meters and gave a vintage performance in the semifinals of the 5,000 relay, leading the Americans to victory in their race with a gutsy pass of two skaters and an emphatic pump of the fist when he crossed the line first.

"It was just total instincts," Ohno said. "I just let it go."

He also let go of opening night.

The 23-year-old skating star cost himself a chance to defend his Olympic title in the 1,500 with an uncharacteristic mistake in Sunday's semifinals. Already in position to advance, Ohno bumped the leader in a turn, wobbled and bobbled before regaining his balance, and wound up missing the final.

"I know what happened. Everybody knows what happened," he said. "I had to come out strong."

Ohno won two medals at the last Olympics, crawling across the line for silver after a crash took out the four leaders, and getting gold when a South Korean skater was disqualified for blocking.

The U.S. men's relay team hasn't won a medal since 1994, but Ohno makes this group a contender.

He took control of the semis with one dynamic move, shifting into a higher gear that sent him careening around skaters from China and Italy with 30 laps to go. The crowd let out a gasp, then erupted in cheers at the sight of the soul-patched skater moving so effortlessly from third to first.

"It was perfect," Smith said. "They slowed down a little bit, and we took advantage of it."

China and the Americans swapped the top spot a couple of times before Smith grabbed it for good, then passed off to Ohno for the finishing kick. The leaders didn't have to push themselves too hard after skaters from Japan and Italy wiped out with 21 laps to go, leaving them far behind.

"It's awesome for me and Apolo to make another Olympic final together," said Smith, who also was joined by J.P. Kepka and Alex Izykowski. "We've been in this sport for a long time, and neither one of us has gold in relay. We have at least one more final in us."

The top two teams in each semifinal advanced to the final, which will be held Feb. 25, the day before the games end. The U.S. was joined by China, Canada and South Korea, while Italy also got in when Japan was disqualified for causing the crash.

Things didn't go quite so well for Ohno's girlfriend, Allison Baver. She finished seventh overall in the 500 after failing to make the medal race.

Baver hurt her right ankle during a crash in the quarters, which took out two other skaters as well. She got back up and finished second, but her ankle was swollen when she came back on the ice for the semis.

"I'll probably feel it bad tomorrow," she said. "I'm going to try to forget about tonight."

The other U.S. skater, 17-year-old Kim Hyo-jung, didn't even make it that far. She was eliminated in the quarterfinals with a last-place showing in her heat.

Kim is a rising star in the U.S. short-track program, but she's been plagued by an Achilles injury.

"I did my best, but it was hurting my legs," she said. "It takes a while to heal, usually six months. The only way that it can heal is rest, but I can't rest. I'm not going to give up."