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Arianna Fontana (ITA) celebrates winning the Gold medal during the Women's 500m Final A at the 2022 Winter Olympic Games in Beijing, China.© Getty Images
The legendary Arianna Fontana (ITA) skated to gold in the Women’s 500m and Ziwei Ren made China proud by winning the second Short Track gold for the host country in the Men’s 1000m, as the Short Track continued at the Beijing Capital Indoor Stadium on Monday.
Fontana (ITA) wins Women’s 500m and collects 10th Olympic medal
In the Women’s 500m, Italy’s Short Track queen Arianna Fontana reigned supreme, taking the gold and her tenth overall Olympic medal. Suzanne Schulting of the Netherlands earned the silver and Canadian Kim Boutin skated off with the bronze.
Gold medallist Arianna Fontana (ITA) (C), Silver medallist Suzanne Schulting (NED) (L) and Bronze medallist Kim Boutin (CAN) (R) pose with during the Women's 500m flower ceremony at the 2022 Winter Olympic Games in Beijing, China. © Getty Images
Fontana looked crisp from the very start, winning her quarterfinal and then her semifinal clearly. In the Final, the 31-year-old Skater was in second position after Schulting and made her decisive move in the final lap, overtaking the Dutch and crossing the finish line with a scream of triumph. "Making the pass at the end, I thought, ‘It is now or never’ and went for it," Fontana said. "Even though I didn’t start first, I knew I had to stay focused. There is still time to recover. I was able to make enough speed and attack at the right moment."
The Italian became already the most decorated Short Track Skater in Olympic history when she won her ninth medal, the silver, in the Mixed Relay on February 5. Fontana’s medal is also the first gold for Italy at the Beijing Games.
Schulting’s dream of sweeping all individual distances in Beijing ended right here, but she earned her second individual medal following her 1000m gold from PyeongChang 2018 and her third overall. “I am very happy with the silver I got today and I am a little disappointed losing gold because it was so close,” she commented. “I think we have a great podium, and it is great to be standing on the podium with such great Skaters. I thought it was a great final,” she added.
Suzanne Schulting (NED) competes during the2022 Winter Olympic Games in Beijing, China. © AFP
World recordmholder Boutin took her fourth Olympic medal. “I am extremely proud to be back here. I really entered this competition with the aim to be symbiotic with the ice. I wanted to go with the flow, and feel the feelings that would come with the race. I was very emotional after the last Olympics, so I wanted to take it step by step,” the Canadian shared.
Kim Boutin (CAN) competing during the 2022 Winter Olympic Games in Beijing on February 7, 2022.© AFP
Some favorites faltered. Two-time Olympic Champion Minjeong Choi (KOR) crashed out in the quarterfinal as did newly minted Mixed Relay Olympic Champion Kexin Fan (CHN) and Kristen Santos (USA), who was penalized.
Ren (CHN) wins exciting Men’s 1000m
Golden boy Ziwei Ren led the Chinese men to a one-two finish in a dramatic Men’s 1000m event after leading the Mixed Relay to gold on Saturday. The silver went to newcomer Wenlong Li while Shaoang Liu of Hungary grabbed the bronze.
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Ziwei Ren (CHN) celebrates winning the Gold medal during the Men's 1000m Final A at the 2022 Winter Olympic Games in Beijing, China.© Getty Images
It was a turbulent final complete with a restart and a yellow card for Shaolin Sandor Liu (HUN), who believed that he had won. He and Ren went head to head and crossed the finishing line in a photo finish. However, the result was overturned when Liu got a yellow card and was disqualified.
Ren had to overcome a shaky start when he fell in the quarterfinal but still qualified for the semis when two other Skaters received penalties. The Final was stopped after a few laps because of some debris on the ice. After the restart, Ren took the lead right away but was overtaken by Shaolin Sandor Liu in the fifth lap. Liu held on to the narrow lead and started to celebrate his win, but the result was under review and the Hungarian received two penalties for a Lane Change from Inside to Out in the straight causing contact and for an arm block at the finish line.
Gold medallist Ziwei Ren (CHN) (C), Silver medallist Wenlong Li (CHN) (L) and Bronze medallist Shaoang Liu (HUN) (R) pose during the Men's 1000m flower ceremony at the 2022 Winter Olympic Games in Beijing, China.© Getty Images
“I feel very happy. This is the best gift for my hard work during the past four years and I feel happy I made contributions for my country,” Ren commented. “It (the race) was really intense. There were collisions. It was a tough race.”
Li made himself a perfect present for his recent 21st birthday on February 4. “I didn’t expect winning a silver today. I expected to help my teammates,” he noted. “I didn’t really have time to celebrate my birthday because I was training all the time. I think this silver medal is a great birthday present."
Shaolin Sandor Liu’s brother, reigning World Champion Shaoang Liu still made sure that the family got a medal – and it was his first individual Olympic medal. “I am happy about the bronze medal, I fought until the end,” he commented. “It was an emotional roller coaster in this last hour. All Skaters were super excited, everyone wanted the gold. And this is Short Track, anything can happen. I told my brother he needs to forget about this, tomorrow is another day.”
Furkan Akar became the first Turkish Short Track Skater at Olympic Games and got into the semifinal. He came second in the B Final.
It was not a good day for Korea. 2018 Olympic silver medalist and world record holder Daeheon Hwang (KOR) as well as Juneseo Lee were penalized in the semifinal while Janghyuk Park injured himself in the quarterfinal and withdrew from the semis.
The Short Track competition resumes February 9 at the Beijing Capital Indoor Stadium with the Men’s 1500m, the Women’s 1000m heats and the Women’s 3000m Relay semifinals.
