Relay (3,000 metres), Women

Host nation South Korea were the heavy favourites for this event. Not only had they won 5 of the 7 earlier editions of the event, they had also claimed the world title in 2015 and 2016, and had performed best in the World Cup races earlier in the running season. China, reigning world champions, and Netherlands had both also won one of the World Cup races, and were considered to be medal contenders.

The Koreans had little trouble qualifying for the final, with Canada following along. The second semi-final was a lot closer, and saw China beat Italy and Netherlands. The disappointed Dutch team then went all-out in the B-final, lowering the world record (held by Korea since November 2016) by three quarters of a second. The A-final was closely contested and – as is typical for the event – rather chaotic. The second half of the race saw several crashes and near-misses involving all of the four teams. The Koreans did pass the line first, but all teams waited impatiently while the judges reviewed all of the possible infringements. In the end, they decided to disqualify both China and Canada. While the home crowd celebrated the win, Italy was ranked second, seeing Arianna Fontana win her seventh Olympic medal, the most of any women in the sport. In the stands, the Dutch team were also cheering, since as winners of the B final, they had been promoted to the bronze medal. This meant Jorien ter Mors became the first woman to win medals in two different sports at the Winter Olympics, having won a gold medal in speed skating earlier at the Games.