Winter Olympics: China bag gold, silver in dramatic men’s short-track 1,000m race; Su Yiming takes second in slopestyle

Short-track speed skater Ren Ziwei wins his second gold of the Winter Olympics, with Li Wenlong taking silver
Snowboarder Su Yiming claims silver of his own in slopestyle; Eileen Gu qualifies fifth in freeski big air competition

Beijing Winter Olympics 2022

Josh Ball

Published: 11:06pm, 7 Feb 2022

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China’s Ren Ziwei claimed his second short-track speedskating gold medal of the Winter Games on Monday night, in a drama-filled men’s 1,000m final.

Li Welong won silver, the host nation’s second of the day after Su Yiming’s in snowboard slopestyle. Hungary’s Shaoang Liu finished third, benefiting from his brother’s misfortune; Sandor Liu Shaolin, who actually crossed the line first, was disqualified.

The Hungarian might consider himself unfortunate, as Ren appeared to grab him as they both threw their skates to the line in the tightest of finishes. But Liu Shaolin was penalised twice, for making contact just a moment earlier in the race and an illegal lane change in his dive for the line.

Hungary’s Sandor Liu Shaolin (left) falls over the finish line just ahead of China’s Ren Ziwei in the final of the men’s 1,000m short-track speedskating. Photo: AFP

“Today, three of us went into the finals,” a tearful Ren said in post-race interview with state broadcaster CCTV. “I really want to thank my two teammates. Team China competed with one heart.”

Once again the sporting action largely overshadowed the politics, although the publication of an interview with Chinese tennis star Peng Shuai in French newspaper L’Equipe, and the need for both Russian and Canadian women’s ice hockey teams to wear masks while playing because of a Covid-19 scare meant both issues remained in the public eye.

The host nation had three men in the final, but Wu Dajing, the defending Olympic champion at 500m, was unable to keep up with Ren, who he won the mixed-relay with on Saturday.

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In the final of the women’s 500m, China’s Zhang Yuting was always going to struggle against Arianna Fontana, a nine-time Olympic medallist and defending champion, Suzanne Schulting, who set an Olympic record over the distance on Saturday, and world-record holder Kim Boutin.

Given her nine Olympic medals heading into the final it was no surprise when Fontana, after a false start and restart, claimed gold, with Schulting and Boutin taking silver and bronze respectively.

The chaotic nature of the night’s races at the Capital Indoor Stadium saw a number of disqualifications and crashes, and Chinese fans took to Weibo to suggest the track was cursed.

Su Yiming with his silver medal. Photo: Reuters

Ren’s gold capped a good day for China, which started with 17-year-old Su finishing second in the slopestyle between two Canadians, Max Parrot and Mark McMorris.

Su’s second run was easily his best, but his 88.70 was just shy of Parrot’s 90.96. For third time in three Games, McMorris, who Su lists as a childhood hero, finished with bronze.

“This moment was amazing for me because since I was young I had a dream to compete in my hometown, in my own country, at the Olympic Games,” Su said.

“I did that today and competed against my childhood idols. I really felt overwhelmed. It’s one of the special things in my life, for sure.”

However, there was some controversy over the result, with a BBC commentator saying that a “glaring judging error” had taken place because Parrot did not have points deducted for a “cardinal sin” knee-grab – a deduction that would have given Su the gold.

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Just hours before Su took to the slopes, Eileen Gu made her first appearance at the Games, but all did not go to plan for the fan favourite in the qualifying runs for the freestyle skiing big air competition.

Windy conditions in Shougang Industrial Park nearly blew the American-born freestyle skier’s medal bid off course, when she lost her ski on her second run and slipped to 16th, four spots outside the qualifying places.

A smooth third run, combined with a solid opening left Gu fifth overall heading into Tuesday’s final.

“I did the left-side 1080 on the first run and I was very happy,” she said. “I did the 900 on the second run but accidentally got a bit slow. The winds changed a little, so I was going a bit too slowly.

“I hope to deliver a more spectacular performance tomorrow.”

China’s Zhu Yi cries after completing her routine in the women’s free skate. Photo: dpa

Gu’s recovery spared the Games from losing two high-profile women in the space of an hour, after Mikaela Shiffrin crashed out of the women’s giant slalom on her first run.

It was a bad day all around for Shiffrin and Norwegian partner Aleksander Aamodt Kilde, who was favourite to win the men’s downhill but finished fifth.

While fans lauded Su and encouraged Gu, their fury at Zhu Yi largely turned to pity on Monday as the Chinese-American again failed on the largest stage and for the second day running left the ice in floods of tears after falling twice during her free skate in the team event, where China finished fifth.

Teammate Jin Boyang jumped to her defence afterwards, telling Xinhua that Zhu had been “very hard working”.

“She faced immense pressure: it was her first time to take part in the Olympics, and it was held in Beijing, at her home country,” he said. “I hope she can adjust. We will all console her and hope she can perform her best next time.”