500 metres, Men

The COVID-19 restricted home crowd hoped that Wu Dajing would be able to repeat his 2018 victory at his home Games. Wu, however, had not won a major title since, having left the 2018 and 2019 world title to Korea’s Hwang Dae-Heon. Defending World Champion Shaoang Liu was also considered, although he had won that title without any Asian opponents due to travel restrictions. His brother, Shaolin Sándor Liu, had won two of the 2021/22 World Cup races and led the standings, with Wu and Hwang also picking up wins.

Shaolin Sándor Liu was the only one of this group not to make the quarter-finals, failing in his last corner attempt to reach the top two. In the first semi-final, ROC’s Konstantin Ivliyev took full advantage of the inner starting position, leading start to finish. Behind him, Pietro Sighel qualified by 0.001, edging out Sitnikov after a great takeover maneuver earlier in the race. Liu, Hwang and Wu all met up in the second semi-final, but only the Hungarian would proceed. Liu won the race clearly, having overtaken early leader Steven Dubois. Hwang made a dual pass move in the final lap, passing Wu and Dubois, but taking out the latter in the attempt. This left the Korean with a penalty, and the Canadian advanced into the final. Wu meanwhile was pipped at the line by the surprising Abzal Azhgaliyev and had to comfort himself in the B final.

The final was fairly straightforward. Liu, having the inner lane advantage, got away with the lead, closely followed by fast-starter Ivliyev. The two opened up a sizeable gap. The others never quite managed to close it, leaving Liu to win his second Olympic gold after the relay title in 2018, ahead of Ivliyev and Dubois. Azhgaliyev placed fourth, while Sighel fell in the final lap.