Beijing, China, February 9, 2022: A brilliant race from Korean short-tracker Hwang Dae-heon earned him his first Olympic gold medal by winning the men’s 1,500m title at the Capital Indoor Arena on a wild Wednesday night.
In an unprecedented 10-man final, the 22-year-old Hwang kept his composure and skating skills under intense pressure to hold off the pack and win in 2 minutes, 09.219 seconds.
It was Korea’s first gold medal of these Winter Olympics and made up for some frustrating disqualifications on the short track in other events earlier in the week.
Canada’s Steven Dubois earned silver in a photo finish with a time of 2:09.254 ahead of bronze medal winner Semen Elistratov of the Russian Olympic Committee in 2:09.267.
Korea’s Lee June-seo was fifth in 2:09.622 and teammate Park Jang-hyuk was seventh in 2:10.176. Kazakhstan’s Adil Galiakhmetov was eighth in 2:11.584.
Hwang, silver medallist in the men’s 500m at PyeongChang 2018, was in imperious form. He won both his quarter-final and semi-final on the night and managed to control the final as the field looked for openings on the inside and around the outside. But Hwang held firm and held his line to get his skate over the line first in a frantic finish to seal gold.
The joy and relief in the Korean camp was palpable, especially after so many disappointments here at the Capital Indoor Arena with penalties, injuries and some unexpected early eliminations.
History was made in short track speed skating as 10 skaters contested the final as a result of penalties in the semi-finals advancing skaters who had been affected by the fouls.
In the semi-finals, the golden hat trick hopes at Beijing 2022 of China’s Ren Ziwei were dashed when, after finishing third in the third semi-final, he was penalised for an arm block. Ren had won the mixed team relay on the opening night of short track on Saturday and gold in the men’s 1,000m two days later.
In the quarter-finals, Kazakhstan’s Adil Galiakhmetov finished second in the fourth of six races and set a new national record of 2:11.823. His teammate, Denis Nikisha, was one of two skaters who crashed out in the same race and later received a penalty to end his hopes.
Women’s 3,000m Relay
The Netherlands and China finished first and second in the first semi-final to qualify for Sunday’s final, as Italy slipped out early on.
In a fiercely contested second semi-final, Korea grabbed second place behind Canada to move into the final and give themselves a chance of a third straight Olympic gold medal and seventh title in nine Olympics.
Canada, Korea, the Russian Olympic Committee and United States produced a close encounter with all four teams battling for the two qualifying spots right to the finish line.
Photos: OCA
