In the men's 5,000m semi-finals of short track speed skating that just ended today, the Chinese team consisting of Wu Dajing, Ren Ziwei, Sun Long and Li Wenlong unfortunately fell down during the glide. Although the Chinese team did not give up after the fall, their final time was only 6 minutes and 51 seconds 040. Compared with the other three teams in the same group, the Chinese team is much slower.
When everyone was regretting that the Chinese team did not qualify for the final, the commentator Wang Mao said very decisively, "We will definitely be judged to be in the final in this situation." "In the end, it turned out that Wang Meng was right, we were indeed sentenced to the final of Group A. (Group A Final Competition Gold Medal)
Why were we awarded to the Group A final?
Wang Meng gave a professional explanation. Li Wenlong fell not because he was not good, but because his ice knife collided with the Canadian athlete's ice knife, which caused him to lose his balance and fell. At the moment when Li Wenlong fell, we were in the second place in the group. Falls like this, caused by accidental factors, are all too common in short-track speed skating. So in order to ensure the fairness of the game, if the athlete who falls in this situation is in the group promotion place when he falls, then he can advance to the next round of the competition.
Why were the Canadian athletes who came across us not being convicted of fouls?
According to Wang Meng's explanation, although the Canadian athlete caused Li Wenlong to fall, it was purely an accident, he was in a normal sliding at the time, and his sliding action did not touch any foul regulations. Therefore, he will not be punished in any way.
brief summary
While it makes sense for us to reach the Final of Group A, we still need to learn from this incident. In the final skating, we must always pay attention to the space, as far as possible to avoid unnecessary contact with other athletes. According to the schedule, the short track speed skating men's 5000m relay Group A final is expected to start at 20:44 on February 16. If you have time, please cheer for our team members when the time comes!