Gao Tingyu made history as China’s first man to win an Olympic Gold in Speed Skating

Although the 24-year-old skater considers himself quite a slow person, he really loves the speed of speedskating, thus setting an Olympic record with his victory in the 500 meters speedskating competition in a blistering time of 34.32 seconds, right on his beloved home soil.

Zhang Hong was China’s only gold medalist in speedskating. She won the women’s 1,000 meters in Sochi eight years ago. Now, she’s got company!

“It felt like I was riding a roller coaster,” Gao said. “When I finished my race, there are 16 people behind me and all of them are great. I felt some pressure until the last group of people.”

Gao joyfully hopped onto the top rung of the podium upon receiving his Olympic gold medal and proudly lifting both arms skyward.

Cha Min-Kyu of South Korea, who finished in 34.39 seconds won a silver medal. While the bronze medal was won by Wataru Morishige of Japan in 34.49 seconds, completing an Asian podium sweep – another historic moment in the Winter Games!