BEIJING, Feb. 5 (Xinhua) -- China claimed its first gold at the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games in the 2,000m mixed team relay of short track speed skating here on Saturday.
The Chinese quartet of Fan Kexin, Qu Chunyu, Ren Ziwei and Wu Dajing, timed in two minutes and 37.348 seconds to win the event which made debut at the Games. Italy took the silver and Hungary bagged the bronze.
The semifinal was twisting for Team China. Fourteen laps before the end, Zhang Yuting, who replaced Fan's position in the race, was blocked by infield skaters from Russia and the United States. As a result, China finished third in the race.
For a few minutes, the Capital Indoor Stadium was in silence as the audience were nervously waiting for the official decision.
Russian skaters were eventually penalized for causing obstruction with extra team skater on the track, and skaters of the U.S. also received penalty for blocking, which promoted China to second place in the semifinals and guaranteed the host a berth in the final.
Sixteen minutes later, the final started. Olympic silver medalist Fan skated the first leg of the final, but the race had to restart as Canadian and Hungarian athletes fell down soon after the starting pistol was fired.
As the race started again, Fan finished the first leg in the third place, and her teammates came from behind to lead the race. In the last 10 laps, China steadily extended the advantage, while skaters from Canada and Hungary fell again. The Italians rushed to cut the deficit and arrived at the finishing line 0.016 seconds slower than China.
"We made it!" Fan said with tears watering down her face. "I've been waiting for this gold medal for a long time. I always believe in our team and my teammates."
"It is the first gold of China in Beijing 2022. A good start!" Wu said in tears. "Team China will never give up and always go all out for every opportunity to win."
According to the rules, each team is made up of two men and two women, and each of four skaters covers four and a half laps in a 2,000-meter race.
Earlier, Wu and Ren both stood out as group leaders to qualify for the men's 1,000m quarterfinals.
The Liu brothers - Shaoang and Shaolin Sandor from Hungary, who won the gold in the men's 5,000m relay four years ago, both topped their heats to advance to the next round.
Olympic silver medalist Fan held her solid lead from the beginning and topped the women's 500m heat to qualify for the quarterfinals. Her teammates Zhang Yuting and Qu Chunyu also advanced.
Also on Saturday, Olympic records were lowered in both women's 500m and men's 1,000m heats. Reigning Olympic champion Suzanne Schulting of the Netherlands renewed the mark to 42.379 seconds in the women's race, while Hwang Dae-heon of South Korea lowered the men's record, set by Canadian legend Charles Hamelin in 2018, in one minute and 23.042 seconds.
The women's 500m and men's 1,000m finals will be held on February 7. ■
