Medals update: Canada stun Republic of Korea to win gold in Beijing 2022 men’s short track speed skating 5000m relay

The last event of the men's short-track speed-skating competition at Beijing 2022 was a corker with Canada coming out on top in the 5000m relay to best Republic of Korea in a scrap for the top two medals.

The race for bronze lasted a few minutes after Italy and ROC had crossed the finish line as the two nations had to be separated by a photo finish with Italy claiming the final podium position despite both nations finishing with the same time.

It was the Republic of Korea quartet of Lee Juneseo, Hwang Daeheon, Kwak Yoongy and Park Janghyuk who were looking super smooth at first in the Capital Indoor Stadium. On the 21st lap, however, Canada's Jordan Pierre-Gilles made a move on the inside to take the lead.

With 14 laps to go, Canada were still in the lead but the skaters bunched up and People's Republic of China's Sun Long fell to leave them out of the running for a medal.

By this point, the race had split into two parts. Republic of Korea were trying to catch Canada, while Italy and ROC both wanted the last available medal.

In the end, Canada's Charles Hamelin, Steven Dubois, Pascal Dion and Pierre-Gilles claimed an ecstatic gold – Hamelin's sixth Olympic medal.

"It means so much," said Dubois post race. "We had such a crazy season, and we wanted to show so bad what we could do. I saw on the last two exchanges that there were some small gaps and thought, 'This is it'."

On winning his sixth Olympic medal at his fifth Olympic Games, Hamelin reflected: "I just think if you put the work in, anything is possible. Finishing on top of the podium with these guys, it is living your dream."

Republic of Korea's Kwak Yoongy said: "The medal that I won 12 years ago was the beginning point of my skating career, whereas this medal marks the end of it. So they’re basically the beginning and the end of my career."

Park, meanwhile, was looking ahead already: "We’ve all dreamt of this moment and I’m delighted to have won the medal. But if there’s one regret, to be honest, maybe we could have finished with a better result. Hopefully, we’ll come back stronger with higher goals in the next Olympics."

Results of the Beijing 2022 men's short-track speed-skating 5000m relay

1. CANADA - 6:41.25
Charles Hamelin, Steven Dubois, Jordan Pierre-Gilles, Pascal Dion
2. REPUBLIC OF KOREA - 6:41.69
Lee Juneseo, Hwang Daeheon, Kwak Yoongy, Park Janghyuk
3 ITALY - 6:43.431
Pietro Sighel, Yuri Confortola, Tommaso Dotti, Andrea Cassinelli