Medals update: Hwang Daeheon wins gold in Beijing 2022 men's 1500m short track final
Hwang wins Republic of Korea's first gold of Beijing 2022 with Canada's Steven Dubois claiming silver just pipping ROC's Semen Elistratov who notched bronze.
Short Track Speed Skating
With an unheard-of 10 skaters in the final of the men’s 1500m short track speed skating at the Capital Indoor Stadium in Beijing on Wednesday (9 February) it was Hwang Daeheon from Republic of Korea who came out on top. Silver medallist was Canada’s Steven Dubois with Semen Elistratov from ROC claiming bronze.
Republic of Korea were favourites having won gold at three of the event’s five contested Olympic events, including most recently in PyeongChang in 2018. With a surprising lack of medals at Beijing 2022 so far, this medal brought a lot of emotion from the Korean camp.
Hwang replicated his Youth Olympic Games medal in this event, which he won at Lillehammer 2016. He is also the world record holder in this event, a time he set the same year at a World Cup race in Salt Lake City in the US. This is Hwang's second Olympic medal having won silver in the 500m at PyeongChang 2018.
After the race, Hwang said: "I can’t find words for my feeling right now. It was the most intense race ever. I am really proud of myself, accomplishing gold in such a race. I am especially proud for being able to add another medal for my country. What a beautiful day.
“I am very proud to get to the top and thankful to everybody who was rooting for me till the very end. Today I was able to have a great race and get the strategy right.
"When I finished, I looked at my phone, there were so many messages, I couldn’t read them all. Today is the best day in my sports career. When I get back to the village, I am not sure what I will do. Maybe I will eat some great food. I want to share my happiness with coaches and colleagues.”
A thrilled Dubois took the most of his opportunity after being a reserve for the Canadian team at PyeongChang 2018, acting as a pace-setter in training sessions. This time, though, he made sure to make the most of his time on the ice, grabbing a silver medal.
Elistratov won his second bronze at an Olympic Games, having claimed third place at PyeongChang 2018 in the same distance. At Sochi 2014, he became the youngest Russian to win a medal in short track (23 years 286 days), after winning gold in the relay.
The next short-track speed-skating event is on Friday (11 February) with the women's 1000m, men's 500m and men's 5000m relay. See the full schedule here.