Beijing, Feb. 5 (BNA) China won its first gold medal at the Beijing Olympics, as it emerged victorious Saturday in the mixed team short track speed skating relay in its first Olympic participation in the event.
Wu Dajing outpaced Pietro Sighel of Italy by 0.16 seconds – or half a skate blade – to claim the gold. Hungary took the bronze, according to the Associated Press.
“He was slowly getting ahead of the Chinese skater. I thought he got it,” said Italian skater Ariana Fontana. “He was so close. It was amazing watching him fight for the gold medal.”
Chu Chunyu, Fan Qixin and Ren Ziwei joined Wu in the historic victory. A small number of Chinese fans at the Capital Indoor Arena cheered and waved small flags.
The results were delayed while the referee was reviewing the race. Canada was penalized for pushing from behind and causing contact with Hungary late in the race.
This paved the way for China to score a significant lead over Italy in the final stages of the race. But the Italians rallied, and raced around the rink in a hot pursuit for the home team. Siegel almost caught Bo in what would have been a huge surprise.
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