Gao wants China to be 'unstoppable'

BEIJING • When China's Gao Tingyu hopped onto the podium at the Beijing Olympics to receive his gold medal after winning the men's 500m speed skating yesterday, the 24-year-old marked a special moment for Asian sport - and one that could give Chinese speed skating, in particular, a boost.

Gao was flanked by South Korea's Cha Min-kyu and Japan's Wataru Morishige, completing the first Olympic podium involving three different Asian countries in speed skating's shortest event, where the powerhouse Dutch have been less dominant over the years.

The last all-Asian men's 500m podium was in Vancouver, when South Korea's Mo Tae-bum took gold and Japanese skaters claimed the silver and bronze.

"That all Asians have won medals - Korea, China and Japan - is very good. I'm happy that Korea is one of them," Cha said after the race.

Asian countries have much more of a foothold in the men's 500m than in other distances, but they still lag behind nations such as the United States and Norway in the medal tally.

Yesterday's three-nation podium could trigger more interest in the sport in China, however, where speed skating has struggled to grow - and Gao's record-breaking run will only fuel that.

"As the first Chinese gold medal winner of speed skating in men's competition, I have a good start for this sport in China," said Gao, whose 34.32sec effort smashed the previous Games record of 34.41 set by Norway's Haavard Holmefjord Lorentzen four years ago in Pyeongchang.

"I think we will be unstoppable in the future."

REUTERS