Beijing 2022 Speed Skating: Everything you need to know about the People's Republic of China's Ning Zhongyan

People's Republic of China speed skater Ning Zhongyan has proven to be a popular athlete among the home crowd.

The 22-year-old, who was born in Mudanjiang, has competed in the men's team pursuit, 1000m and 1500m at Beijing 2022.

There is more to come, as he still has the men's mass start to take part in.

Ning is competing in his first Olympic Winter Games and started off with the men's 1500m.

While Dutch duo Kjeld Nuis and Thomas Krol as well as Republic of Korea's Kim Minseok took the medals, Ning came seventh - his fellow Chinese athletes Wang Haotian and Lian Wizen came 20th and 27th respectively.

After People's Republic of China finished eighth in the men's team pursuit, it was time for Ning to turn his attention to the men's 1000m.

In that race, it was Thomas Krol (NED), Laurent Dubreuil (CAN) and Haavard Holmefjord Lorentzen (NOR) who won the gold, silver and bronze respectively.

While Ning came fifth - behind Poland's Piotr Michalski - he was only 0.12 seconds off bronze, providing encouragement for what could potentially come in future Games.

Though, before thinking of the future, he'll be keen to impress once again in the men's mass start.

“I am quite satisfied with my performance. I performed better today than in the 1500m," he told Olympics.com after the 1000m. "I am in a better condition today. I have an advantage in the 1000m because the distance is shorter.

“In the 1500m I felt my body was stiff. It seemed like my body was trapped in a box.”

He continued to say: “This ranking is within my expectation. I felt OK about ranking top five. I will try to improve myself, especially accelerating in the first lap.”

Speaking about not winning an Olympic medal yet, he added: “I have expected a lot from myself since I