TURIN, Feb 22 (Reuters) - South Korea's short track skating team won gold in the women's 3,000 metre relay at the Winter Olympics on Wednesday, the fourth time in a row they have taken the title, but the biggest cheers went to Italy.

The home team, who had lagged during most of the race, popped up into the bronze position when China, who crossed the line third, were disqualified for blocking.

Canada, who have won bronze in the last two Olympics, upgraded to silver after spending most of the race battling at the front of the pack with China and South Korea.

As the Chinese disqualification was announced, the crowd in the Palavela rink screamed with joy, yelling "I-ta-lia". The team skated back onto the ice holding the national flag, crying at having won Italy's first short track medal in Turin.