Winter Olympics 2022 - Arianna Fontana retains 500m title to end Suzanne Schulting's hopes of a clean sweep

Short-track speed skating great Arianna Fontana made Italian sporting history as she ended Suzanne Schulting's bid for an individual clean sweep of Winter Olympic titles in Beijing by retaining her 500m gold with a display which showcased all of her experience. Having already claimed silver in the mixed relay, she brought up her 10th career medal to go level with cross-country skier Stefania Belmondo as Italy's most decorated female Olympian, having won her first in Turin 16 years ago.

Ad/> Nicknamed the L'Angelo Biondo (Blonde Angel), Fontana took the lead over Schulting with a lap to go and crossed the line first, bursting into tears and celebrating with her team before holding aloft the Italian flag. Canada's Kim Boutin rounded off the podium with bronze.

/> Beijing 2022'Phenomenal' — Fontana celebrates winning gold for Italy in 500m short trackAN HOUR AGO Schulting went into the Games having won every event she entered at the World Championships last year, but she had already crashed out of the mixed relay and in Fontana, she was going up against a 500m specialist. The Dutch athlete set the tone with a dominant performance in her semi-final, opening up a huge lead right from the start to ease to victory, but it was Fontana who set the quickest time in the penultimate round, setting up an enticing decider.

The quicker time meant that Fontana had the advantage of having the inside line, but tension was raised even further when Fontana and Schulting touched on the opening lap, the Italian falling early enough for the race to be restarted. China win first gold in inaugural short track speed skating mixed team relay Beijing 2022 Olympic Games: Schedule, big names, key events and more A change of skates, and they were