Winter Olympics: Netherlands win emotional short track speed skating gold

Reigning world champions the Netherlands claimed an emotional short track speed skating gold in the women's 3000m relay at the Winter Olympics in Beijing.

The Dutch quartet of Suzanne Schulting, Selma Poutsma, Xandra Velzeboer and Yara van Kerkhof broke their own Olympic record as they posted a winning time of four minutes 03.409 seconds.

Schulting and Van Kerkhof were part of the 2018 Olympic bronze medal-winning team which also included Lara van Ruijven, who died aged 27 in July 2020.

The then-reigning world champion over 500m, Van Ruijven had been diagnosed with an autoimmune disorder after falling ill at a training camp in France.

The Dutch team wore panther-themed hearts on their sleeves in tribute to Van Ruijven, who would often wear the design in competition on eyewear and the back of her helmet.

They had previously honoured Van Ruijven by holding up an image of the same heart on their phones following victory in the 3,000m relay at last year's World Short Track Speed Skating Championships.

The Netherlands had improved their own world record time at the test event for Beijing 2022 in October.

They were only 0.4 seconds short of matching that record on Sunday, as anchor Schulting crossed the line with her arms aloft.

The Republic of Korea took silver in 4:03.627, while China finished in bronze position in 4:03.863.