Medals update: Gao Tingyu wins men's 500m speed skating gold on home ice in new Olympic record

Hosts People's Republic of China have something special to celebrate today, as speed skater Gao Tingyu set a blazing pace to claim the men's Beijing 2022 500m gold medal and with it a new Olympic record.

Gao's mark of 34.32 was 0.09 seconds faster than the record set by Norway's Håvard Holmefjord Lorentzen in PyeongChang 2018, and was enough to seal an impressive gold ahead of Republic of Korea's Cha Min Kyu (34.39) and Japan's Morishige Wataru (34.49).

In the fastest 500m race in Olympic history, both the first and second-place finishers went under the previous Olympic record. However, it was Gao who stood tallest, winning gold and the right to call himself Olympic champion.

At the last Olympic Winter Games, Gao became the first athlete from the People's Republic of China to win an Olympic speed skating medal. Now he has made history once again as the new Olympic champion.

More to follow...