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SCMP Sport

Speed skater Ning Zhongyan broke the West’s 100-year Winter Olympics stranglehold on the men’s 1,500m event on Thursday and hoped his “unbelievable” performance was just the beginning of a Chinese surge in the sport.
Ning dashed to gold in a Games record time of one minute, 41.98 seconds at the Milano Speed Skating Stadium. American Jordan Stolz took silver, with defending champion Kjeld Nuis of the Netherlands claiming bronze.
It was the first time an athlete not representing the United States or a European nation had won the race since it’s Olympics debut in Chamonix in 1924.
Ning said he would not be able to sleep after his “perfect” race earned him his third medal of the Olympics, to go with his two bronze from the men’s 1,000m and men’s team pursuit. It was also China’s third gold in Italy.
The triumph was also a remarkable turnaround after the 26-year-old finished fifth in Beijing four years ago.

“I am standing on the top of the mountain, finally,” he told state media. “I didn’t know how I managed to get through the last four years.
“From being unable to recover from the defeat, from regret to remorse, to gradually accepting the results, and then to this golden moment, it’s just unbelievable.”
In a post on social media, Ning said gold made “the countless tears, sweat, lows, and highs” all worth it.
“Since becoming a professional after Beijing, I had to book my own flight tickets, plan my itinerary, and even sleep overnight at the airport,” he wrote on Weibo. “Now that I’ve become a gold medallist. I dare not look back on the journey so far.
“Now I can hold my head high and show the world the speed of China. I believe the future of speed skating in China is far more than just this.”
Just hours after the March of the Volunteers was played in Milan, decorated freestyle skier Eileen Gu gave herself another shot at gold by qualifying for the final of the women’s halfpipe.
Once again though, the 22-year-old did things the hard way, once more recovering from an awful first run to finish fifth overall ahead of Saturday’s final.
Three of her teammates, Li Fanghui, Zhang Kexin and Liu Yishan, also advanced, ranking second, sixth and 11th respectively.
“I want to know why I always mess up in my first run,” Gu said. “It was not a technical issue, and I don’t mean to scare everyone.
“It seems I need to reach a certain pressure threshold to unleash my best performance. The first qualifying run didn’t seem to put enough pressure on me, and I don’t know if that’s the right way to think about it.”
After winning silver in the big air and slopestyle, Gu said competing in three events had left her “really exhausted”.
“I am the only halfpipe athlete competing in more than one event, let alone two,” the five-time Olympic medallist said. “There is no such thing as an all-around champion here, I have to compete against the best in every event.”


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Gold medallist Ning Zhongyan Ning celebrates after winning the men’s 1,500m. Photo: Reuters

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China (from left) Liu Hanbin, Wu Yu, Li Wenhao and Ning Zhongyan celebrate winning bronze. Photo: AP

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Speed skater Ning Zhongyan wins men’s 1,500m race in record time, while skier Eileen Gu qualifies for third final at Winter Olympics


Speed skater Ning Zhongyan wins men’s 1,500m race in record time, while skier Eileen Gu qualifies for third final at Winter Olympics.


Eileen Gu

Ning breaks West’s grip on 1,500m, says Games gold just the start for China speedskating

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Speed skater Ning Zhongyan wins men’s 1,500m race in record time, while skier Eileen Gu qualifies for third final at Winter Olympics

Speed skater Ning Zhongyan wins men’s 1,500m race in record time, while skier Eileen Gu qualifies for third final at Winter Olympics