Hungary's Shaoang Liu (L) finishes ahead of Russia's Konstantin Ivliev to win the Men's 500m Final A at the 2022 Winter Olympic Games in Beijing, China. © AFP
Shaoang Liu of Hungary struck gold in the Men’s 500m at the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games while Suzanne Schulting led the Netherlands to their triumph in the Women’s 3000m Relay at the Beijing Capital Indoor Stadium Sunday.
Shaoang Liu gives Hungary its first individual gold at Winter Games
Shaoang Liu skated to a historic victory, giving Hungary its first ever individual gold medal at the Olympic Winter Games. Little heralded Konstantin Ivliev (ROC) grabbed the silver in his Olympic debut while Steven Dubois of Canada claimed the bronze.
Shaoang Liu of Team Hungary celebrates winning the Gold with Silver medallist Konstantin Ivliev of Team ROC during the Men's 500m Final A at the 2022 Winter Olympic Games in Beijing, China. © Getty Images
It was an exciting competition day. Reigning ISU World Champion Liu looked strong from the beginning, taking the lead in the first lap of the Final and never relinquishing it. He crossed the finish line at 40.338. The Hungarian earlier won his quarterfinal and his semifinal. Liu added the gold to his bronze from the 1000m and he was already on the gold medal winning relay team at the 2018 Olympic Winter Games.
"It was a really good day. Everybody did their best. It was a crazy race. I'm speechless at the moment. When I crossed the line I didn’t have any emotions. I think I need some time to realize what happened. We are here to make history,” Liu said. "Our country is very small and we don't have much people. I hope this medal will bring the Hungarian people together, bring some pride to my country.”
Ivliev is the reigning ISU European Champion in the 500m but has yet to win a medal at the ISU World Cup or ISU World Championships. However, after winning his quarterfinal and his semifinal it became clear that Ivliev was ready for more in Beijing. The 21-year-old from Moscow kept up with Liu in the Final and raised his arms in triumph when crossing the finish line.
SGold medallist Shaoang Liu of Team Hungary (C), Silver Medallist Konstantin Ivliev of Team ROC (L) and Bronze Medallist Steven Dubois of Team Canada (R) celebrate during the flower ceremony at the 2022 Winter Olympic Games in Beijing, China. © Getty Images
“This medal was unexpected for me, therefore I let out these positive emotions,” the ROC Skater shared. “At each stage of the competition I raced at my maximum, because my advantage is the start. I wanted to get a good time, a good position. For me it is much more comfortable to race first then coming from behind. I did not feel any pressure and I am very surprised. I thought I would be nervous, shaky, have sweaty hands, but I just raced and enjoyed the whole setting. It is really cool.”
Dubois was advanced to the Final and made the best out of it. The Canadian got into third from the second lap on and held on to his position, earning his second medal in Beijing after the silver in the 1500m.
Canada's Steven Dubois competes in a semi-final heat of the Men's 500m Short Track Speed Skating event at the 2022 Winter Olympic Games in Beijing, China. © AFP
“Shaoang is excellent and also Konstantin had a very good time. I think I skated well and I am happy with my performance. I definitely can’t say I expected this result. I knew I had the potential to win medals and I am happy so far. It’s definitely higher than what I expected,” Dubois commented. He hopes to race again in the Men’s 5000m Relay as does Ivliev.
Abzal Azhgaliyev (KAZ) placed fourth. Pietro Sighel (ITA) fell in the last lap and did not finish.
2018 Olympic Champion and world record holder Dajing Wu (CHN) surprisingly did not make it out of the semifinal and 1500m Olympic Champion Daeheon Hwang (KOR) was penalized. Shaolin Sandor Liu (HUN) and Ziwei Ren (CHN) lost out in the quarterfinals.
Netherlands triumph in 3000m Relay with Olympic Record
The favored Netherlands triumphed in the Women’s 3000m Relay and set a new Olympic record on their way to gold. Korea skated to the silver medal and China clinched the bronze.
Gold medallists Team Netherlands (C), Silver Medallists Team South Korea(L) and Bronze Medallists Team China (R) take a group selfie during the flower ceremony at the 2022 Winter Olympic Games in Beijing, China. © Getty Images
The Netherlands around their star Suzanne Schulting controlled the race from the beginning and Schulting screamed in delight when she crossed the finish line first at 4:03.409.
Selma Poutsma, Xandra Velzeboer and Yara van Kerkhof raced with Schulting in the Final.
It was an emotional win for the Dutch women who remembered their former teammate Lara van Ruijven who had passed away suddenly in 2020.
Team Netherlands of Xandra Velzeboer, Suzanne Schulting, Yara van Kerkhof and Selma Poutsma celebrates winning the final A of the Women's 3000m relay Short Track Speed Skating event at the 2022 Winter Olympic Games in Beijing, China. © AFP
"It was really important to become Olympic champions, and I am so proud of the girls. Today, Lara proudly looked down on us. She has a special place in our hearts. This (winning gold in relay) was her dream, too,” Schulting commented.
Van Kerkhof agreed: "She is still in our team and she is always in our minds and in our hearts. She was a big reason we had so much fun in this sport, and she is a big reason why we are here. I asked Lara for help this morning, I asked her to give us strength. I don’t know if it helps, but it feels like she is with us and it feels like it helps. So we take her with us on the ice.”
The fight for the medals was tight until the last lap when the Koreans with Minjeong Choi moved up and China, led by Kexin Fan, came back to get the bronze while the Canadians slipped to fourth.
Netherlands' Yara van Kerkhof leads ahead of South Korea's Choi Min-jeong in the final A of the Women's 3000m relay Short Track Speed Skating event at the 2022 Winter Olympic Games in Beijing, China. © AFP
Whimin Seo, A Lang Kim and Yubin Lee joined Choi in the Final.
“There were many challenges I had to overcome, but I knew when I was shaken up then the whole team would be shaken up and I wanted to be the strong anchor for my team,” Kim said.
Mixed Relay Champion Fan, Chunyu Qu, Chutong Zhang, Yuting Zhang were on the Chinese team in the Final.
Selma Poutsma and Xandra Velzeboer of Team Netherlands skate during the Women's 3000m Relay Final A at the 2022 Winter Olympic Games in Beijing, China. © Getty Images
“This is a team event and everyone in the team has made their best effort. In the last two laps, Fan Kexin tried to get ahead, I believe all of you have seen that,” Qu noted.
The final day of the Short Track competition in Beijing will be on February 16 features the Women’s 1500m and the Men’s 5000m Relay.