China’s Han Yutong finished 7th in the women’s 1,500 meters short track speed skating final on Wednesday evening.
Han finished with a time of 2:19.06. On the podium were Choi Min-jeong from South Korea with a time of 2:17.789, Arianna Fontana from Italy with 2:17.862, and Suzanne Schulting from the Netherlands with 2:17.865.
In the semifinals, China’s Zhang Chutong ranked 7th with a time of 2:26.717 and Zhang Yuting ranked 6th with 2:18.75, so they failed to qualify for the final.
Born in 1994, Han has been praised by her childhood coach as having “extraordinary fitness and exceptional skating ability.”
“Although Han is introverted, there is a kind of energy inside her. She trained very hard and has been an excellent long-distance player,” recalled Li Changchun, Han’s first skating coach back in her hometown of Northeast China’s Jilin Province.
Han was admitted into the national short track speed skating team in 2012, and participated in the Pyeongchang Winter Games as her Olympic debut.
The national women’s short track speed skating team has been seeing good results at the Games in Beijing. The team bagged a bronze medal in the 3,000 meters relay on Sunday evening, led by the veteran short track champion Fan Kexin and three other teammates.
In 2010, the national women’s team won the Olympic gold medal for the 3,000 meters relay competition in Vancouver, Canada, despite being interfered with by illegal contact from a South Korean skater.
The success is a milestone for Team China to break through the dominance of major competitors such as the Netherlands and South Korea in the sport. China’s short track speed staking team has so far won two gold medals, one silver and one bronze at the Beijing Games.
Han Yutong of China competes during the women’s 1,000m short track speed skating quarterfinal at Capital Indoor Stadium in Beijing, capital of China, Feb. 11, 2022. Photo: Xinhua
