Winter Olympics 2022 - Shaoang Liu wins 500m short track gold as favourites exit early in Beijing

Shaoang Liu won 500m short track speed skating gold at the Winter Olympics in a competition which saw the favourites fail to make it to the final in Beijing. The Hungarian finished ahead of Konstantin Ivliev of the Russian Olympic Committee and Canada's Steven Dubois to upgrade from the 1000m bronze he won earlier at the Games.

Ad/> /> Beijing 2022Schulting guides Netherlands to emotional short track relay gold in BeijingAN HOUR AGO There was a shock final line-up, with reigning champion Wu Dajing failing to make the final, while South Korea's 1500m Olympic champion Hwang Dae-heon, who won silver four years ago, also went out at the penultimate stage after he was disqualified for an infringement. There were surprises in the quarter-finals with Ren Ziwei, who had already won 1000m and 5000m relay gold, being dumped out in the first race.

Shaolin Sandor Liu suffered more disappointment by finishing fourth in his race, having been disqualified from the 1000m earlier in the Games when he thought he had won. Wu cruised through his opening race of the day, but the drama was reserved for the semi-finals.

Konstantin Ivliev of the Russian Olympic Committee and Italy’s Pietro Sighel advanced from the first race, but in the second, the competition was to lose its favourites. Hwang attempted a risky move on the inside, pushing Steven Dubois of Canada wide, but the 1500m winner was penalised.

Wu was the favourite going into the event as the defending champion, and the Chinese crowd were shocked when he could only manage a third-place finish to miss out on the A final, with Shaoang Liu and Abzal Azhgaliyev progressing automatically and Dubois also put through because of the infringement from Hwang. Beijing 2022 Olympic Games: