3,000 metres Relay, Women

The first semi-final saw Korea and Canada take control of the race, Canada just edging out the Koreans by 0.849 seconds, finishing comfortably ahead of both Russia and Hungary. In the second semi-final China set the fastest time and finished ahead of Italy, who just edged out Japan, with the Netherlands relegated for an infringement. This placed the top four nations of the World Cup season in the Olympic final as well.

The final was a thrilling race, with there being little between the four teams until the halfway stage, when the Italian team crashed during a changeover. Korea then went ahead of China and made a run for the finishing line from some distance, with Canada slowly dropping off the pace. Coming into the final laps China put in a tremendous effort to take the lead as they entered the last lap. However Shim Seok-Hui overtook Li Jianrou on the outside to claim the gold medal for Korea. There was still drama to come as a review of the race found the Chinese had committed an infringement as Zhou Yang had failed to clear the track fast enough after an exchange and had impeded the Koreans. The team were relegated, Canada being promoted to the silver medal and Italy to the bronze. This was a reversal of fortunes compared to the 2010 Olympic final, when China won gold after the Koreans were disqualified.