Relay (3,000 metres), Women

With help from Yang Yang (A) and her namesake Yang Yang (S), China had been the dominant nation in the relay and World Team Championships in recent years. But South Korea had won the event in 1994 and 1998, and were gunning for a third consecutive title.

Both team easily placed for the final, dragging Japan and Canada along. As expected, the Chinese dominated much of the race, until the South Koreans overtook them with some eight laps to go. In the final two laps, [Choi Min-Kyung] held off two-time gold medallist Yang (A) to give the Koreans their third title in a row. Later that year, Choi would trade her Korean passport for a French one, joining Korean coach Lee Jun-Ho in that country.