Meet Ren Ziwei, China's new short track hero

Ren Ziwei has been one of the stars of short track at Beijing 2022, and he's not done yet.

He helped give China a great start to the Winter Olympic Games as part of their winning quartet in the inaugural Olympic short track mixed relay on Saturday (5 February).

But Ren did not hang around for too long to celebrate with the student at Beijing Sports University having to leave promptly to complete an assignment.

Two days later, with his homework done, he won a dramatic 1000m final to claim his second gold of the Games having won men's relay silver at PyeongChang 2018.

His bid for more hardware in the 1500m met a controversial end as he was disqualified from his semi-final.

But the 24-year-old has two more medal chances to come - the 500m and the men's relay - and a gold in either would see him match Wang Meng's Chinese record of three golds at single Winter Games.

Three is also the record for a Chinese athlete at the Summer Olympics, jointly held by gymnasts Li Ning and Zou Kai.

The making of a champion

Ren began training as a short track speed skater when he was seven years old.

He was discovered by a local coach Wang Beiming who also had the difficult task of convincing his hesitant parents to let him train and commit to the sport.

A native of Harbin, the capital city of Heilongjiang province in the north-east of China which has produced a number of high-class speed skaters, Ren trained under Wang for 10 years and won his first national age-group title aged 10.

The coach told his doubtful parents that their son would join the national team before he was 18, but Ren's mother was worried after seeing him suffer two fractures in his early teens.

At 16, he was selected for the 2014 World Junior Championships where he took 1500m bronze and men's relay gold.

In 2017, he made his mark in the senior ranks again in the relay team.

Weeks after taking gold at the Asian Winter Games in Sapporo, the four took silver at the World Championships in Rotterdam with Ren then earning a spot at PyeongChang 2018.

Ren Ziwei's Olympic career so far

Ren had a mixed Olympic debut although it did end on a high.

After he helped the men's relay team qualify comfortably for the final, Ren's first individual event met a swift end as he was disqualified from the 1000m heats.

He had to wait a full week to skate again, in the 500m heats, which he negotiated with ease.

On the next day, the last day of competition, he made it through to the B final of the 500m - taking sixth overall - then watched his teammates take silver in the men's relay behind winners Hungary.

After collecting a medal for his contribution in the heats, Ren has since established himself as a key member of China's short track team.

This season, he has clinched three World Cup wins, one at 1000m and two at 1500m.

The soldier's son remains in top shape, and he's mentally prepared for battle.

"For me, the competition ground is the battlefield in the age of peace. I don't know how to express my love for the country, but I'm ready to contribute all to China. At this time, the best present I can give my motherland is a gold medal,” he said in an interview with China Daily.

He also won't have the distraction of college work - his tutor has removed him from the class group chat to allow him to focus on events in the Ice Ribbon.

MORE: Short track speed skating at Beijing 2022 - full schedule and where to watch