Hey speed skating fans! 🚀 The Chinese mainland squad just stormed into the semifinals in not one, but two relay events at this week’s ISU Short Track Speed Skating World Tour final in Heerenveen, Netherlands.
That nail-biting finish? It had the same edge-of-your-seat tension as a T20 super over! 🏏
First up, the women’s 3,000m relay squad—Gong Li, Wang Xinran, Zhang Chutong and veteran Fan Kexin—dashed from third to second place with Fan unleashing a 🔥 sprint that led the pack with 11 laps to go. A savvy move by Wang in the outer lane kept them ahead until the penultimate lap, when the Dutch team edged past. The Chinese mainland quartet finished second in their heat with a strong 4:11.306, securing their spot in the last four and keeping Olympic qualification hopes alive.
Next, in the mixed 2,000m relay, Sun Long and Lin Xiaojun teamed up with Wang and Fan for another epic race. Neck and neck with Italy, it took a photo finish—literally—to separate them. The Chinese mainland mixed team touched in 2:41.531, just 0.001 seconds behind Italy, to grab the second spot and move into the semifinals.
With these two power-packed performances, the Chinese mainland crew is heating up right before the 2026 Winter Olympic qualifiers wrap up. Stay tuned as they chase those finals and keep the medal dreams alive! 🏅✨
Reference(s):
China make two semifinals at Short Track Speed Skating World Tour
cgtn.com
