Gangneung, Korea, January 24, 2024: China’s short track speed skaters ended their Winter Youth Olympic Games campaign with another gold medal at the Gangneung Ice Arena on Wednesday, January 24.
The mixed team relay, with two female and two male racers in a team of four, was the final event on the short track programme, and China’s victory earned them their fourth gold medal from seven events. The other three were won by Korea, United States and Poland.
China stayed out of trouble in the hurly burly of the relay and won the final comfortably in a time of 2 minutes, 46.516 seconds.
The United States were second in 2:47.124 and Japan took the bronze in 2:47.412. Canada finished fourth in 3:00.867.
China’s team comprised women’s 1000m champion Li Jinzi, women’s 1500m champion Yang Jingru, Zhang Bohao and men’s 1000m gold medalist Zhang Xinzhe.
Yang, 17, hails from China’s winter sports hotbed of Heilongjiang province in the northeast of the country and has been training in short track since she was nine years old. She said team spirit was the key to China’s success on the short track, not only in the mixed team relay but throughout the week.
“We have been practicing together as a team for around two weeks and I feel we raced very well in the semifinal and final,” she said.
“Actually, we trained in mixed relay many times and experienced many different situations. This is why we were able to do our best today and race really well as a team.”
The home fans were left disappointed when Korea slid out of the first semifinal, along with the Netherlands, leaving Japan and the United States to finish first and second and qualify for the final.
In the second semifinal, Hungary and Kazakhstan suffered the same fate, with Kazakhstan penalized and missing out on a place in the B final, which Korea won from the Netherlands and Hungary.
The Chinese four were flawless in both semifinal and final. “We focused very hard on the race and on the progress. The key point to our success is that we work as a team together.
“I want to continue to get more good results, more podiums and to earn more medals for my country.”
Japan, better known for their speed skating skills around the oval rather than the cut-and-thrust of short track racing, took home the bronze through Inoue Nonomi, Yoshizawa Aoi, Fuchigami Yuta and Kida Raito.