Olympic Short Track Speed Skating

South Korea's Choi Min-jeong produced a stunning performance to win gold in the 2018 Winter Olympics final of the ladies' 1,500-metre short-track speedskating on Saturday.

The 19-year-old logged a scintillating time of 2 minutes, 24.948 seconds after timing her surge to the front to perfection, crossing the finish line unchallenged. Li Jinyu won silver for China, while Kim Boutin came home in third for Canada.

In the semi-finals, there was more heartbreak for Great Britain's Elise Christie, as she crashed out again and was carried from the Gangneung Ice Arena on a stretcher. 

Here are the top three from Sunday's final and a recap of what was an absorbing day of skating from Pyeongchang:         

1. Choi Min-jeong (KOR): 2:24.948

2. Li Jinyu (CHN): 2:25.703

3. Kim Boutin (CAN): 2:25.834   

   

For the 1,500-metre results in full, visit the Pyeongchang website.

        

Choi Clinches Gold; Christie Crashes Again

After a dramatic 500-metre final four days ago, there were some rivalries resumed in the 1,500.

In the early stages, all eyes were on Christie after her fall in the 500, and she sailed through her heat with an excellent display. Choi, Boutin and Arianna Fontana, the winner of the 500, also made it safely through to the semis. 

Christie's measured skate was particularly impressive, as she breezed to the head of the field late on. Four-time Olympic rowing champion Matthew Pinsent was impressed with her effort:

https://twitter.com/matthewcpinsent/status/964809683834990593

In the three semi-finals, there were only two competitors guaranteed to progress to the final, so the competition was fierce in the trio of races.

Boutin was able to make her way through the frantic first semi-final, as did Fontana, keeping her hopes of doubling alive. 

In the last semi, Christie, the world champion, went up against Choi, the pre-race favourite. But once again, the Scotland native found herself flat on the ice, as she tangled with Li and crashed out on the final bend when battling for the second automatic qualifying berth.

While she was penalised for the move, the health of the skater was a more pressing concern, as noted by the Press Association's Mark Staniforth:

Christie's down on the final bend... and she appears to be injured. Clutching her ankle.

— Mark Staniforth (@markstani1) February 17, 2018

As we can see courtesy of BBC Sport, Christie was eventually escorted from the arena on a stretcher:

A sad sight, Elise Christie is leaving the track on a stretcher.

👉 https://t.co/l2flIYQLuZ #Pyeongchang2018 #bbcolympics pic.twitter.com/IBKVdVyFYa

— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) February 17, 2018

Meanwhile, Choi, Li and Petra Jaszapati of Hungary made up what was a seven-person final for later in the day.

For the first few laps, nobody appeared to be too willing to take the race on. But with three to go, Choi was able to find an injection of speed, sizzling around the outside and moving clear of the field.

The chasing pack couldn't react, giving Choi a huge margin of victory. Meanwhile, despite her crash with Christie in the semis, Li did enough for second.

Boutin, who took third in the 500, repeated the trick and made some history for Canada in the process, per Team Canada PR:

Kim Boutin wins Canada's first Olympic medal in the women’s 1500m short track speed skating event - the only short track event in which Canada didn't have an Olympic medal.

— Team Canada PR (@TeamCanadaPR) February 17, 2018

In the 500 final, Choi was penalised for interfering with Boutin and subsequently disqualified from second place. So it would've been a huge relief to win in such comfortable fashion and with no controversy attached. 

Her attention will now turn to the 3,000-metre relay on Thursday, as South Korea go in search of more glory in the short-track events.

South Korea set an Olympic record as they reached the final of the short-track men's 5,000-metre relay event on Tuesday in Pyeongchang, South Korea. 

China set a new record with a time of six minutes, 36.605 seconds in Heat 1, but that was surpassed by both Korea and Hungary in Heat 2 at the Gangneung Ice Arena, with Korea recording a time of 6:34.510.

Canada will complete the lineup for Final A after they finished behind China in the first heat. 

ISU Speedskating confirmed the lineup:

Qualified teams for the Men 5000m Team Relay Final A

Korea OR 🇰🇷
Hungary 🇭🇺
China 🇨🇳
Canada 🇨🇦

#️⃣ #ShortTrackSkating

— ISU Speed Skating (@ISU_Speed) February 13, 2018

CBC's Jamie Strashin remarked on the hectic nature of the event:

Could there be more people on the ice? The short track relays are truly symphonies of chaos. pic.twitter.com/X7WH6nhJfR

— Jamie Strashin (@StrashinCBC) February 13, 2018

China and Canada built up an early lead in Heat 1, while Kazakhstan were put on the back foot from the start following an early crash.

The Netherlands battled back into contention in the final laps, but the team was penalised when Sjinkie Knegt took out Canada's Samuel Girard in the last turn, handing Canada a place in Final A.

Heat 2 was a tighter contest between all four teams for much of the race, but in the later stages became a duel between Hungary and Korea as the USA tired late on.

The host nation, cheered on by a partisan crowd, took the lead in the final laps and held to claim top spot in the heat.

Canada's Charles Hamelin set a new Olympic record in the heats of the men's 1,000-metre short-track speedskating on Tuesday. 

The Canadian's mark of one minute, 23.407 seconds saw him safely into the quarter-finals, while South Korea's world-record holder Daeheon Hwang also made it into the next round with a win in his heat.

Meanwhile, world champion Yira Seo, another hope for the host nation, survived a scare, having finished in third position in his heat. However, he progressed after a penalty against Han Tianyu in the same race.

Here are the top three from the heats on Tuesday as the 1,000-metre event got under way at Gangneung Ice Arena.

             

1. Charles Hamelin (CAN)—1:23.407

2. Wu Dajing (CHN)—1:23.463

3. Sjinkie Knegt (NED)—1:23.823

            

For the results in full visit the Pyeongchang website.

          

Hamelin on Form in Heats

Although the times at this stage of the competition aren't too important, Hamelin made a big statement with his display on Tuesday.

The Canadian found himself in a difficult race with Wu Dajing and France's Sebastien Lepape in Heat 5, meaning there was no room for easing off in the latter stages. Hamelin rose to the challenge, though, putting in a brilliant performance to break the competition record.

As noted by CBC's Charlsie Agro after Hamelin's record, he'll be delighted to be looking in such good shape in the 1,000-metre race:

https://twitter.com/CBCharlsie/status/963364164654673920

He'll be determined to perform well in it, too, as the three-time Olympic champion missed out on the final of the 1,500 metres due to a penalty in his semi-final. 

In a sport in which success depends on such fine margins, there's a long road between the Canadian and glory still. Especially given the calibre of competition he will face, particularly from the South Korean competitors.

Hwang is a man to watch out for as the rounds progress, with the world-record holder getting through his heat in much more routine style.

He too is hoping to bounce back from disappointment earlier in these Games. Hwang was in a brilliant position for a medal in the 1,500 metres before a fall cost him a spot on the podium. 

There was almost a big surprise in Heat 6, as Seo appeared to be struggling midway through and was unable to get in the top two provisionally. However, on review he was given a reprieve, as it was deemed he was nudged off balance by Han. 

Meanwhile, after a silver medal in the 1,500m, Knegt is another man who will be dangerous in the latter stages, as he was comfortable in his Heat 4 victory.

The 2018 Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, reportedly has its first case of an athlete being kicked out for doping.

Juliet Macur of the New York Times reported the news Monday, noting Japanese short-track speedskater Kei Saito was the guilty party. According to Macur, Saito tested positive for a masking agent during testing before the Games and "is provisionally suspended and left the Olympic village."

Saito, 21, was yet to officially compete in the Pyeongchang Games.

According to Martin Rogers of USA Today, Saito's positive test is the first for a Japanese athlete in Winter Olympics history.

"The revelation will be a major embarrassment to Japanese sports, which has long prided itself on its clean image and will be hosting the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo," Rogers wrote.

While it has not been a previous issue for Japanese teams in the Winter Olympics, doping was a primary focal point leading into the 2018 Games because of Russia. As CNN noted, Russia was banned from the Pyeongchang Olympics for systemic doping, although those individuals who could prove they were clean are still competing as part of the Olympic Athletes from Russia team.

If a Russian athlete wins the gold, the Olympic theme song is played while the victor is on the podium instead of the country's national anthem.

Carlijn Achtereekte made it a day to remember for the Netherlands on Saturday at the Winter Olympics, as she led home an all-Dutch top three in the women's 3,000-metre speedskating. 

Achtereekte posted an early benchmark of three minutes, 59.21 seconds in the long-track event, which proved to be enough for her to earn a shock win. Defending champion Ireen Wust was an agonising 0.08 seconds back in silver, while Antoinette de Jong finished third.

Here are the results from what was a day of high drama in Pyeongchang, as Achtereekte helped her country to a historic haul.

   

1. Carlijn Achtereekte (NED): 3:59.21

2. Ireen Wust (NED): 3:59.29

3. Antoinette de Jong (NED): 4:00.02

For the results of the competition in full visit the Pyeongchang website.

              

Achtereekte Heads Dutch Domination

In the early stages of the event, few competitors were able to put a time in the books that would've contended for a medal. But there was an injection of quality from Achtereekte in the fifth pairing.

The Dutchwoman was the first of all the skaters to break the four-minute mark, posting a time of 3:59.21. That would've been good enough for gold in Sochi four years ago when Wust took top spot.

After a few more pairs went by, in the ninth run Wust took to the track in an attempt to defend the title she won four years ago, with Isabelle Weidemann alongside her. 

The defending champion appeared in excellent shape and was quickly below the splits her compatriot had set earlier in the day. However, as her run came to an end, Wust started to struggle and her last lap was sluggish.

As noted by Karthik K, some sloppiness in the final stages ultimately cost her the chance of back-to-back golds:

Whoa, Wust with a slow last lap drops into 2nd behind Achtereekte. #NED in 1-2 for the moment. #PyeongChang2018 #speedskating

— Karthik K (@kkanagas) February 10, 2018

With 400 metres to go, Wust clocked in at 3:25.65, 1.04 seconds quicker than Achtereekte at that point in the race.

In the remaining pairs there were some big names still to come, but getting close to Achtereekte's time was proving too much of an ask.

De Jong gave it a go and was within touching distance of the leader's splits throughout her four minutes on track. In the end, despite a big late effort, she was only able to finish third, narrowly ahead of the Czech Republic's Martina Sablikova.

It gave Achtereekte a surprise win. After all, as noted by Nick Zaccardi of NBC Sports, the 28-year-old hasn't showcased too much pedigree on the big stage before:

Dutch women's 3000m winner Carlijn Achtereekte, 28, competed in three World Cup A division races between the last two seasons with finishes of 11th, 13th and 16th. Has never won a World Cup race.

— Nick Zaccardi (@nzaccardi) February 10, 2018

Wust, who won two golds and two silvers at the 2014 Games in Sochi, will be left to lament on her poor last lap, as she appeared to have the gold in her grasp.

However, she will have numerous opportunities to bounce back, with the 1,000-metre and 1,500-metre events still to come in the long track. On this evidence, it's also going to take something remarkable to stop the Dutch winning the ladies' team pursuit in Pyeongchang.

Lim Hyojun clinched Winter Olympics gold on Saturday for host nation South Korea in the men's 1,500-metre short-track speedskating with an event record time of two minutes, 10.485 seconds. 

In what is always one of the most absorbing events at any Games, it was Lim who eventually came through at the end of 13-and-a-half laps of action. The Netherlands' Sjinkie Knegt was close behind in second spot, while OAR skater Semen Elistratov grabbed bronze.

Here are the results from the final at the Gangneung Ice Arena.

             

1. Lim Hyojun (KOR): 2:10.485

2. Sjinkie Knegt (NED): 2:10.555

3. Semen Elistratov (OAR): 2:10.687

For the skating results in full, visit the competition's official website.

Lim Outlasts Knegt in Dramatic Finish

As noted by Sean Ingle of the Guardian, throughout the competition the Korean skaters were receiving some brilliant support:

North Korean cheerleading squad sing after cheering on South Korean short track speed skaters pic.twitter.com/lZPXgXBrg8

— Sean Ingle (@seaningle) February 10, 2018

After the heats earlier in the day, the battle for a place in the final started got under way.

From them, it was Elistratov who emerged the quickest, posting a time of 2:11.003 to see him ahead of Canada's Charles Hamelin.

There was also plenty of interest for the home supporters in the final, as Lim and Hwang Daeheon both qualified in third and fourth position, respectively. Still, in a nine-man battle for the gold medal, a winner could've feasibly come from any of the competitors.

In the final, after a relatively pedestrian start, the Korean pair made a big move to the front of the field, igniting the crowd temporarily. Then world-record-holder Knegt muscled his way into the lead and the pace increased further.

The hopes of the home fans were diminished at this point, as Daeheon was eliminated from contention after a tangle with Thibaut Fauconnet; the latter took a skate to the face after the former fell.

But the fans were quickly on their feet again, as Lim made his way past Knegt and into an excellent position. The Dutchman was unable to manoeuvre a way around the leader and appeared to concede defeat before Lim had even crossed the line.

As relayed by the Washington Post's Barry Svrluga, it was a momentous result not only for the host nation, but for Elistratov as well:

The host country's first medal comes in its best sport: Lim Hyojun's gold in the men's 1,500-meter short-track speed skating. Also noteworthy, the first medal to an "Olympic Athlete from Russia," bronze to Semen Elistratov.

— Barry Svrluga (@barrysvrluga) February 10, 2018

Per Ingle, the OAR athlete would've been thankful to see Daeheon and Facounnet take each other out in the final stages:

The short-track speed skater Semen Elistratov has just won @Olympic_Russia's first medal of these Games. Finished in third behind the South Korean Hyojun Lim after late crash took out two skaters ahead of him

— Sean Ingle (@seaningle) February 10, 2018

For Lim, to produce such a remarkable performance at the age of 21 in front of an expectant home crowd is testament to his incredible temperament.

The natives will get a chance to see the champion in action again in the 5,000-metre relay, and provided Daeheon shakes off the disappointment he suffered here, the South Korean team will feel as though they have an excellent chance of gold in that event. 

The exhilarating event of short-track speedskating captures our attention for the first time on Saturday, February 10.

The 2018 Winter Olympics short-track slate begins with one medal event and two sets of qualification heats inside Gangneung Ice Arena in South Korea.

In the men's 1,500-meters, the defending champion is looking for a repeat in a field that won't be at full strength.

Over on the women's side of the sport, host nation South Korea is looking to use Saturday's heats in the 500-meters and 3,000-meter relay to excite the home crowd about what's to come over the next two weeks.

        

Saturday Schedule (5-7:30 a.m. ET)

All events can be live-streamed on NBCOlympics.com

Men's 1,500-meters qualification, semifinal and final heats

Women's 500-meters qualification heats

Women's 3,000-meter relay qualification heats

        

Hamelin Searching for Repeat in Men's 1,500-Meters

Canada's Charles Hamelin is back for his fourth Olympics, and the first achievement he's looking to earn in Pyeongchang is the repeat of his 1,500-meters title.

The decorated 33-year-old has three career gold medals, and he is expected to contend for his fourth in the first medal event of short-track speedskating.

Hamelin's top competition comes from Sjinkie Knegt of the Netherlands, who won three golds at the 2018 European Championships.

Although the Dutch are known for their success in long-track speedskating, Knegt was the first athlete from the Netherlands to earn a short-track medal in 2014 in 1,000-meters.

While the competition between Hamelin, Knegt and others will be riveting on the ice, there will be one notable missing face, as Victor An's appeal along with 44 other Russian athletes to the Court of Arbitration for Sport to compete in Pyoengchang was rejected on Thursday, per Reuters.

An, who was born in South Korea and became a Russian citizen in 2011, has six Olympic gold medals to his name.

         

Choi Min-jeong In Search of Strong Start

All of the pressure of the host country weighs on South Korea's Choi Min-jeong, who has the chance to win three individual gold medals on the short track in Pyeongchang. 

The 19-year-old's first appearance on the ice comes during Saturday's qualification heats for the women's 500-meters.

She burst on to the scene with three gold medals at the 2015 World Championships, and she'll be looking for the same haul alongside her South Korean teammates.

The eyes of South Korea will turn to Gangneung Ice Arena every time a short-track event is contested since 21 of the nation's 26 Winter Olympics gold medals have come in the event.

Other names to keep an eye on in Saturday's qualifiers are Canada's Marianne St-Gelais and Elise Christie of Great Britain.

        

South Korea Attempting to Extend Relay Dominance

Short track is already chaotic enough in the individual events, which makes the team relays a must-watch frenzy.

Saturday's women's 3,000-meter relay qualification heats will give us our first look at the fast pace of the team event, with South Korea expected to be out in front.

Outside of China's gold in the event in 2010 in Vancouver, the South Korean team has been dominant in the relay, with wins in three of the last four Olympics since the turn of the century.

In total, South Korea has won five of the seven women's 3,000-meter relays at the Olympics, and barring a setback in qualification, there's no reason to believe the host nation won't come out on top again in the February 20 final.

       

Follow Joe on Twitter, @JTansey90.

Statistics obtained from Olympic.org and NBCOlympics.com.

JR Celski has become the Dan Jansen of these Sochi Olympics.

He arrived in Russia riding high, owner of a world record in the 500-meter short-track skating event and with thoughts of medaling in the 1000-meter event too, not to mention the 1500-meter and the team competition.

He was built up by mainstream media to be one of the major American stars of these Olympics and there was no reason to doubt that. 

Instead, Celski goes home with just a silver medal in the team pursuit.

Friday, in his last chance to make a big splash, Celski couldn't even make the A final in the 500, the race where the winners get the medals. Celski didn't make it out of the semifinals and had to skate the B final which, let's be honest, is for the losers.

And he only finished second in that.

The ice hasn't been nice to Celski in Sochi.

Once a feared power in long-track and short-track speedskating, the U.S. will leave Russia with that single silver from the short-track team event.

Celski did muster up a smile when he and his three teammates received flowers in the arena for finishing second to Russia in the team pursuit.

The thoughts of Jansen first came to mind when Celski crashed in the 1000-meter quarterfinals and couldn't even advance to the semifinals. He tripped on a block, a rookie mistake, and Celski is no rookie.

He won two bronze medals in Vancouver and after sweeping the 500, 1,000, and 1,500 at the U.S. trials in Utah just months ago, Celski was hyped to become the next Apolo Anton Ohno for the United States, a dominant figure on the short track.

Since winning those bronzes in 2010, Celski had accomplished as much as any short tracker in the world.

He won gold this season at a World Cup event in Kolomna, Russia in the 1,500-meter race and the relay; he earned another gold in Shanghai in the relay in 2013; and in 2012 at a World Cup race in Calgary he set that 500-meter world record.

But by the time he came out for the 500 Friday, it seemed as if there was a malaise over the U.S. team and Celski skated that way.

When he failed to win a medal in the 1,500, Celski told USA Today's Gary Mihoces, "I came out here and gave it my best and unfortunately came up a little short."

Celski, 23, of Federal Way, Wash., added, "But I have three more events to go out there to compete in. So there may be some medals in the future." 

There would only be one medal in the future and he needed his teammates to get it.  

While walking through the interview area Friday, Celski was asked if he was disappointed in his Olympics. "No," he said. And he showed off his team pursuit silver.

He was also asked in the interview area if there was a particular reason he did so poorly in his individual events. "It just wasn't my time," Celski said. "It happens. You just can't always be good."

When the Games began, Celski was expected to have a starring role. Instead, it was Korean transfer Victor An, who switched his citizenship to Russia, who left the Games with three gold medals and played the part of hero for the home team. Even his ex-Korean teammates congratulated An after he won the 500 on Friday.

After Vancouver, Celski took a year off from skating while he co-produced a documentary about hip-hop in Seattle. If he plans to skate in the 2016 Olympics, perhaps Celski, if he wants to produce a film, should make it about short track. Following An around might not be a bad idea.

Diane Pucin is the Olympics lead writer for Bleacher Report. She covered eight Games for the Philadelphia Inquirer and the Los Angeles Times. You can follow her on Twitter @mepucin. 

It became a two-team race early, but Russia edged the United States in a great finish in the men's 5,000m short-track relay.

Russia set a new Olympic record of six minutes and 42.371 seconds as Victor An raced past the finish line to earn his third gold medal in Sochi. Willie Cornblatt of NBC Olympics noted how impressive the veteran skater has been:

The United States grabbing silver was an accomplishment for a team that was struggling mightily:

China were able to earn a bronze despite an early fall, edging out the Netherlands for third place. Here is a look at the final standings, including the secondary final, courtesy of Sochi2014.com:

Rank	Country	Time
1	Russia	6:42.100
2	United States	6:42.371
3	China	6:48.341
4	Netherlands	6:49.149
5	Kazakhstan	6:54.630
6 (B Final)	Canada	6:43.747
7 (B Final)	South Korea	6:43.921
8 (B Final)	Italy	6:44.904

Paul Newberry of the Associated Press notes the dramatic events that took place on the first lap:

Kazakhstan held third place for a long time, but it was simply unable to keep up with the talent on the ice.

This left just a two-team race for most of the 45 laps, coming down to An and J.R. Celski on the final turn. However, the Russian was able to come away with yet another victory in an impressive career.

The United States team almost didn't even qualify for the main final after a crash knocked them out of the semifinal race. However, a review showed that the South Korean skater interfered, and the American squad replaced the defending silver medalist in the next round.

Eddy Alvarez explained his feelings to Linda Robertson of the Miami Herald: "It was a very stressful three minutes. I’m extremely relieved. Now we have to skate to our potential in the final. We have to let the tiger out of the cage."

The group might not have completely reached its potential, but it should be proud of a silver medal.

Amazingly, this is the first medal for the United States in either speedskating or short track, completing one of the more disappointing runs in recent memory.

On the other hand, the Russians took advantage of top teams like Canada and South Korea outside of the final and were able to come away with an impressive run.

The battle for third place was also exciting, but the Netherlands were unable to recover from their crash and ended behind China for fourth.

While this was a team event, the big story remains the success of An:

The former South Korean star won four medals in Sochi, including two golds within an hour of each other. At 28 years old, he will certainly be past his prime at the next games, but he should never be counted out.

Meanwhile, Celski remains a top contender in the future in multiple events, as well as a number of other skaters from the United States. The question is whether the Americans can do a better job of preparing for the individual events next time around.

Follow Rob Goldberg on Twitter for the latest breaking news and analysis.

In fourth place during the men's short track 500-meter final with a podium appearance on the line, Russia's Victor An exploded for an epic comeback with two laps to go and stole the gold.

The jaw-dropping finish gave An his second gold of the 2014 Winter Games and third overall as his final time of 41.312 was just enough to edge past silver medalist Dajing Wu of China and bronze medalist Charlie Cournoyer of Canada:

Rank	Skater	Country	Best Time
1	RUS	Victor AN	41.063
2	CHN	Dajing WU	40.846
3	CAN	Charle COURNOYER	40.945
4	CHN	Wenhao LIANG	41.221

Lost in the shuffle was the fact two-time world champion Wenhao Liang crashed out in the early goings of the final and finished fourth.

It was an overall dominant showing from An considering he won both his quarterfinal and semifinal races by wide margins. Wu did the same, while Cournoyer won first in his quarterfinals race but finished behind Wu in the semifinals.

After the massive field was narrowed in the heat session on Feb. 18 to set up the quarterfinals, things really got interesting on Day 14. America's J.R. Celski, easily one of the favorites, hit the ice hard in his round but was advanced anyway after it was ruled his progress was impeded.

Bleacher Report's Dan Levy took a humorous approach to the wild turn of events:

Another top contender was not as fortunate.

Russia's Vladimir Grigorev, who had previously won a silver medal in the men's 1,000-meter event, fell on the very next run in the quarterfinals and was eliminated, as illustrated by Willie Cornblatt of NBC:

Remember, Canada's Charles Hamelin—the 1,500-meter gold medalist from earlier in the Games—did not even participate after crashing out in Tuesday's heats, which proved to be a strong foreshadowing for most top contenders.

Things then transitioned to the semifinals, where the four runs effectively weeded out the weak links. One happened to be Celski, who started in fourth and finished in the same position after a disappointing total time of 41.152, which hardly qualified him for the secondary final.

Celski would go on to finish in second place in Final B, good for sixth place overall just behind China's Tianyu Han. For Celski, it is a disappointing end to the Games overall that saw him fail to reach a podium under the weight of lofty expectations—especially considering he holds the world record in the 500-meter race. He had reflected on his desire to medal after the 1,000 meters, where he crashed out in the quarterfinals, via Madison.com:

“I really wanted it,” he said after practice Monday. “I kind of saw four years go down the drain for the 1,000.”

Outside of Celski, plenty of future contenders were on display. Han figures to be in the podium conversation for quite some time, as do the other podium finishers who were able to capitalize on mistakes by favorites.

All that remains in Sochi for the short track discipline is the men's 5,000-meter team relay, where the dominant An has a chance to make history, as Nick Zaccardi of NBC points out:

Regardless, An's miracle comeback is a moment that will not soon be forgotten, especially in the face of a competition that perfectly captured just how bright the future of the sport truly is.