1,000 metres, Women

Experts were waiting to see the two Chinese short-track stars clash with each other in this event. The winner of the 500 m, Wang Meng, was a sprint specialist, while the winner of the 1,500 m, Zhou Yang, was more of a distance skater. Based on statistics, Wang seemed to have the upper hand, having won the last two world titles in the event, with Zhou finishing second in 2008. Wang also held the world record in the distance. However, Zhou had beaten her earlier in the season, at the World Cup in Montréal, although Wang had taken the distance’s World Cup.

In the quarter-finals, Zhou lowered the Olympic Record to below 1:30.000, but it would not hold for long. In the semi-finals, she went even faster, bettering the world record to 1:29.049, with Park Seung-Hui (South Korea) also beating the old mark. In other semi-final, Wang was narrowly defeated by Katherine Reutter. Early on in the final, Zhou attempted to pass Reutter on the inside, with Wang trying the same on the outside. Impeding Reutter with this move, Zhou knew she was out of contention and fell back, to be disqualified later. This left the field open for Wang, who outpowered Reutter and Park with apparent ease.

Wang’s gold medal for China meant the Chinese had won all four of the women’s short track speed skating events at the Vancouver Olympics; the first time any country achieved this since the sport’s inclusion in 1992. She also equalled the record of four Olympic short track golds, previously held only by Jeon I-Gyeong (South Korea).