Winter Olympics: China’s men claim historic team pursuit bronze, but wait for gold goes on

The wait for a Chinese gold medal at the Winter Olympics stretched into its 12th day on Tuesday, but at least the country’s speedskaters gave supporters something to cheer about.

Bronze in the men’s team pursuit was the first time China has ever medalled in the event, with Liu Hanbin, Wu Yu and Li Wenhao edging out the Netherlands by just 0.09 seconds in the B Final.

There was a shock in the race for gold too, with Italy stunning favourites America, the reigning world champions and world record holders.

“To achieve this result today is a huge encouragement for the entire Chinese speed skating team,” Ning Zhongyan, who skated in the semi-finals, said. “This medal has great value for us. We had never been on the podium before, and at times it was even difficult just to qualify.”

The American trio of Casey Dawson, Emery Lehman and Ethan Cepuran have dominated the men’s team pursuit for a while, but they could not keep up with Italy’s Davide Ghiotto, Andrea Giovannini and Michele Malfatti and have lost to them twice at the Milano Cortina Games, including by 4½ seconds in the final.

“You can’t just be the best going in,” Lehman said after his last race before retirement. “You have to be the best on the day you compete.”