1,000 metres, Men

Many former champions in the event did not compete in Beijng. Defending champion Samuel Girard had retired in 2019. His compatriot, 2018 World Champion Charles Hamelin was in Beijing, but was not selected for the 1,000 m. The 2019 champion, Im Hyo-Jun had been suspended by the Korean federation over a sexual harassment conviction (which was later overturned), and while he had joined the Chinese team and was hoping to race as Lin Xiaojun, his nationality change was not submitted in time to compete for a different NOC than in 2018.

The 2021 World Champion, Shaolin Sándor Liu was present, as was his brother and world runner-up, Shaoang Liu. Other favorites included Hwang Dae-Heon and Ren Ziwei, who had both won World Cup races earlier in the season, as had Sándor.

Despite a flurry of disqualifications and advances in the heats and quarter-finals, most of the favorites reached the semi-finals. One casualty was Korea’s Park Jang-Hyuk. In his quarter-final, he collided with Pietro Sighel. While spinning on the ice, Wu Dajing skated into his hand, causing a serious injury that required 12 stitches, leaving him unable to race the semi-finals (to which he as advanced).

Hwang and Ren seemed to proceed from the first semi-finals, but Hwang was judged to have impeded Li Wenlong in his move overtaking Ren and Li, and was relegated. The second semi-final also ended badly for the South Koreans. The Liu brothers dominated much of the race, but after Lee June-Seo had overtaken Shaoang, he blocked the Hungarian’s attempt to comeback, and was also penalized.

This left the final a Chinese affair, with Ren, Li and Wu Dajing, as well as the Chinese-Hungarian Liu brothers. Wu was leading the race when it was halted, as a piece from of the skates of Li had broken off and damaged the ice. In the restarted race, Ren was the early leader, but was passed by Sándor Shaolin with four laps to go, at which point Wu and Shaoang had lost touch with the others. Liu only just held on until the finish line, crossing it falling and cheering. But after some agonizing minutes waiting for the referee to review the race, Liu was penalized for an overtaking infringement earlier in the race, giving Ren his second gold medal of the Games. As a minor consolation for Hungary, this moved Shaoang up to bronze.

Another notable competitor was Furkan Akar. The 19-year-old Turkish skater made his country’s first Olympic appearance in short-track. Benefiting from disqualifications in his heat and quarter-final, he eventually reaced the B-final, recording a remarkable sixth place in the final standings, the best ever for a Turkish competitor in any sport at the Olympic Winter Games.