While China was relieved to claim their first gold medal at the 2018 Winter Olympics with only three days left, sports fans in the mainland were equally as pleased to see it as revenge over the hosts following a series of controversies.
The Sochi Games silver medallist beat two South Koreans into second and third place, delighting mainland fans.
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In the following men’s 5,000-metre relay final, Wu’s China also won a silver medal behind Hungary while South Korea came home in a disappointing fourth place. Another delight for the fans, especially given that the European nation featured two Hungarian-Chinese brothers, Liu Shaolin and Liu Shaoang in the team.
(From left) Csaba Burjan, Liu Shaolin Sandor and Liu Shaoang of Hungary celebrate after winning the 5,000 meters short track speedskating relay final. Photo: AP
One of the favourites in the discipline after capturing two gold, three silver and one bronze in Sochi four years ago, China endured some disappointing performances in Pyeongchang with only one silver medal before the final day.
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However, both the team and the fans blamed poor officiating for their results, claiming the host nation was being favoured at the expense of Chinese athletes.
