On February 12, Beijing time, the speed skating event of the Beijing Winter Olympics began a men's 500-meter competition in the "ice ribbon", and Gao Tingyu and Yang Tao of the Chinese team joined forces to compete, and in the end, Gao Tingyu won the championship with a time of 34.32 seconds. This is the first Olympic gold medal of Gao Tingyu's career and the first Olympic gold medal of the Chinese men's speed skating team. Previously, Ning Zhongyan played average in the men's 1500m speed skating competition and failed to win the championship for the Chinese team. Therefore, the task of competing for the first gold medal of the Beijing Winter Olympics for the Chinese speed skating team fell to Gao Tingyu.
As the flag bearer of the opening ceremony of the Beijing Winter Olympics, the Chinese sports delegation, Gao Tingyu's performance attracted the attention of many spectators. It is worth mentioning that Zhao Dan, who served as the flag bearer with Gao Tingyu, also ushered in his Olympic debut at the steel frame snowmobile race on the 12th. Throughout the Beijing Winter Olympics cycle, Gao Tingyu made rapid progress in the men's 500 meters of speed skating, and was also considered to be the favorite to win the championship.
At the last Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, Gao Tingyu won the bronze medal in the event, becoming the first Chinese male athlete to stand on the speed skating podium of the Winter Olympics.
Four years later in Beijing, Gao Tingyu strived to set a new personal record on his second Olympic trip. The world record in the men's 500 meters in speed skating is 33.61 seconds held by the Russian Olympic Committee's Kulizhnykov, and the Dutch team Willby, Germany's Duft and Poland's Mikharski are all the main opponents of Gao Tingyu. In the previous Chinese Speed Skating Elite League, Gao Tingyu had broken the national record he held, just 0.22 seconds away from the world record.
In the men's 500m of the ISU Speed Skating World Cup in Poland, he won his first world championship of his career. In this Winter Olympics, Gao Tingyu said in an interview before the game that his goal is to win the gold medal. Amid the cheers of the audience, Gao Tingyu made his debut at the Beijing Winter Olympics, and in the end, he skated an excellent score of 34.32 seconds, creating a new Olympic record. It is worth mentioning that this is also the eighth Olympic record produced by the National Speed Skating Hall at this Winter Olympic Games.
With the end of the last group of players, Gao Tingyu's results have never been broken, and in the end, Gao Tingyu, who played in the Winter Olympics for the second time, won the men's 500 meters event. At the last Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, Gao Tingyu won the bronze medal in the men's 500 meters. Four years later, in front of his father and elders in his hometown, he fulfilled his pre-game promise to help the Chinese speed skating team win the first Olympic gold medal in the men's event, and the fourth gold medal of the Chinese team at the Beijing Winter Olympics.
(Luo Treasurer)