On January 10, the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics Short Track Speed Skating Selection Competition was unveiled at the Shougang Winter Training Base, and the first competition day was held for men and women in 500 meters and 1500 meters. In the men's 500m Group A final, Sun Long won the championship and Li Wenlong won the runner-up. In the women's 500m Group A final, veteran Fan Kexin won the championship and Wang Xinran won the second place. The men's 1500m and women's 1500m finals were fiercely contested, with Zhang Tianyi and Guo Yihan winning the men's and women's championships.
The competition will be held from January 10-15, divided into three stations, the selection of men and women 500 meters, 1000 meters, 1500 meters six events, will be selected 3 men, 5 women a total of 8 athletes to represent the country in the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.
Previously, after four short track speed skating World Cup and Olympic qualification tournaments, the Chinese team won full qualification in all the men's and women's 500 meters, 1000 meters, 1500 meters, relay and mixed relay events of the Beijing Winter Olympics short track speed skating events. Except for Wu Dajing and Ren Ziwei, who directly qualified for the Beijing Winter Olympics, the rest of the participation quotas need to be selected.
In order to improve the ability to lead the skate and adapt to the rhythm of the Olympic Games, the selection events will set up race points in the 500 meters, 1000 meters and 1500 meters events to improve the speed of the whole course. Race points are set for each lap in the 1000 meters, each lap from lap 1.5 in the 500 m, and every lap from lap 2.5 in 1500 meters. Athletes who do not meet the performance standard will not receive extra points. Athletes who meet the standard, grab the match points and get the first place will receive extra points and count towards the individual points. The final admission results of the selection competition will be sorted according to the sum of the points of the three individual events, and the first place in each race will automatically qualify for the Winter Olympics; in addition to the three athletes who have already qualified, the top two of the three total points in the women's event will be qualified.
On the first day of the selection, in the women's 500m Group A final, Fan Kexin played well, leading all the way, and finally won the championship. Wang gladly finished second. In the men's 500m Group A final, Sun Long won the championship and Li Wenlong won the runner-up. In the video broadcast footage, the name and figure of Lin Xiaojun, who won the PyeongChang Winter Olympics and the World Speed Skating Championships, also appeared in the video broadcast screen, and chose to become a Chinese citizen in 2021. According to the competition information, he has changed his name to "Lin Xiaoyuan" and represented the Hebei provincial team. However, in the men's 500m quarterfinals, he did not play well, and did not reach the top two of the group and reached the final of Group B.
The men's 1500m and women's 1500m finals were fiercely contested, and Zhang Tianyi won the final of the men's 1500m Group A. In the women's 1500m Group A final, Guo Yihan took the lead in crossing the finish line by a slight advantage to win the championship.
Text/Beiqing Sports Zhou Xueshuai