VANCOUVER, British Columbia — Trailing the South Koreans and a pair of Canadian brothers, Apolo Anton Ohno had to rally on the last lap to make history.

With the gold and silver out of reach, Ohno scooted furiously past Charles and Francois Hamelin to earn a bronze in the short-track 1,000-meter final Saturday night, making him the most decorated U.S. Winter Olympian.

“I really had to fight,” he said. “I can’t wait to watch the tape and see how I came back from last place to win bronze.”

Lee Jung-su of South Korea won his second gold in Vancouver and teammate Lee Ho-suk earned the silver. The Koreans claimed four of the six short track medals awarded.

“Once I advanced to the front, all I could think of was just staying there,” Lee Jung-su said.

Ohno’s seventh career medal broke a tie with long-track speedskater Bonnie Blair. He now has two gold, two silver and three bronze medals in his three Olympic appearances. The skater from Seattle already earned a silver in the 1,500 last weekend.

“I’m very happy for Apolo’s accomplishment,” Blair said in a statement from Pacific Coliseum, where she was on hand to watch the race.

“It’s a great feat for him, U.S. Speedskating, and the United States of America. We hope that more kids will see his accomplishments and want to try our great sport that has been so good to us and taught us so much about what it takes to be successful in life.”

Ohno wasn’t quite ready to brand himself the most decorated American in Winter Games history.

“In my mind, that’s a hard question. How do you answer that? I don’t put labels on myself,” he said. “I consider myself an athlete on my third Olympic Games, working my heart out. My goal was to come out and put my heart and soul into the Olympic Games and I’ve done that.”

Ohno, whose medals are the most of any short-track skater, appeared relieved as he crossed the finish line, having skated near the back of the pack early in the nine-lap race. He briefly moved up to second, then dropped to last after slipping in the turn with three laps to go, forcing his rally near the end.