At Capital Indoor Stadium, he led the race and crossed the finish line in 40.338 seconds. This was Liu’s third Beijing Games medal, after he had previously won bronze in the 1,000 relay and the mixed team relay.
Russian skater Konstantin Ivliev took silver. Canada’s Steven Dubois earned bronze.
Some of the most prominent names were absent from the A final. Wu Dajing, the China’s defending champion, was moved to the B final. He won. In the quarterfinals, Ren Ziwei from China and Liu Shaolin Sandor’s older brother were eliminated.
Hwang Daeheon, South Korea’s runner-up, was eliminated in the semifinals following a penalty for a late pass which caused contact with Dubois. He was promoted to the A final, where he won his second Beijing medal. He won silver in the 1,500.
The 500 did not have the chaotic feel of short track. No one crashed in the five-lap sprint. The few Chinese fans who were there to cheer Wu’s victory in the A final had no reason to cheer.
Suzanne Schulting led the Netherlands to victory in the 3,000 relay. This broke a South Korean hold on the event.
Schulting won her second and third overall Beijing gold medals. She was awarded silver in the 500 and gold at the 1000.
After crossing the finish line, she cried and raised her arms in triumph.
With a time of 4 minutes and 3.40, the Dutch team of Schulting (Selma Poutsma), Xandra Velzeboer, Yana van Kerkhof, and Selma Puoutsma (Xandra Velzeboer) broke their own Olympic record. The Dutch were third at the Pyeongchang Olympics four years ago.
South Korea, the two-time champion, rallied to win silver in the event that it has won six times in nine Olympics. China took bronze.
In the final four-team match, there were no crashes. Canada came in fourth place.
It was Arianna Fontana who led Italy to victory at the B final. The Russians were punished and the United States was penalized. American skater Kristen Santos was involved in a crash during the race.
