Gao Tingyu won China’s first ever men’s speed skating gold at the Winter Olympics as he came out on top in the 500m event in Beijing.
He did so in style too, smashing the Olympic record as he crossed the finish line in 34.32 seconds to take an historic gold.
“You have to break the Olympic record or you cannot win the gold, this is a really fast venue and the skaters are showing a really high level of performance so I don’t think it’s a surprise to break the record,” Gao said after the race.
Favourite Laurent Dubreuil of Canada missed out on a podium place, finishing fourth and two-tenths of a second behind Gao with a time of 34.52 seconds.
Gao was one of China’s flagbearers at the Opening Ceremony of the Games, and was fancied to seal success on home soil.
The 24-year-old appeared to shrug off any pressure though and any suggestion that his involvement at the start of the Games would impact his performance.
“I think we have a very good start for this sport in China. I think we will be unstoppable in the future,” Gao said.
“Somebody told me that there was a ‘flagman’s curse’, but I just want to say to hell with the flagman’s curse - I won the gold medal!”
Brothers on podium
Norway’s Johannes Thingnes Boe won gold in the men’s 10 km biathlon sprint event at the Winter Olympics, while his brother Tarjei took bronze.
It is their second medals of what has been an incredibly successful Games in Beijing for the duo, after last week’s mixed relay triumph.
The day belonged to the Boe brothers and in particular to Johannes, whose eventual winning margin was 32.1 seconds, with Tarjei eight seconds further back.
“It is a fairytale to be on the podium with Johannes,” said Tarjei. “It is big for me. There is a lot of joy but also relief - to share this together both as a team, and for the rest of our lives.”
Johannes said: “It was an extremely good race, it was a perfectly planned race. I heard I was leading, so today knew it was the day. I had very good skis too.
“I am so pleased Tarjei is in third place,” a beaming Boe said.
Team GB latest
The British women’s curling team got a much-needed win as they beat the USA 10-5.
They stay sixth in the round-robin phase, but after Friday’s defeat to South Korea it was vital that the Brits got the better of a USA team that suffered their first defeat of the tournament.
Eve Muirhead said: “After last night’s loss we knew it was a very important game. We had a bit of time off so I think we definitely made the most of that. We regrouped, managed to switch off a bit and we came out firing.
“I’m absolutely delighted, as a team we played great, very proud of the girls and how they performed out there.
“It’s nice to beat an unbeaten USA.”
Elsewhere, Charlotte Bankes and Huw Nightingale finished sixth in the mixed snowboard cross, while Lewis Gibson and Lilah Fear came tenth in the figure skating ice dance.
Laura Deas, who won bronze four years ago, came 19th in the women’s skeleton final as the wait for a first British medal of the Games continues.
Winter Olympics medal table
Country |
Gold |
Silver |
Bronze |
Total |
|
1 |
Germany |
8 |
5 |
1 |
14 |
2 |
Norway |
8 |
3 |
6 |
17 |
3 |
USA |
5 |
5 |
1 |
11 |
4 |
Netherlands |
5 |
4 |
2 |
11 |
5 |
Sweden |
5 |
2 |
3 |
10 |
6 |
Austria |
4 |
6 |
4 |
14 |
7 |
China |
4 |
3 |
1 |
8 |
8 |
ROC |
3 |
4 |
6 |
13 |
9 |
Italy |
2 |
5 |
4 |
11 |
10 |
Japan |
2 |
3 |
5 |
10 |
- |
Great Britain |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
