China bags first Olympic medal in skeleton racing

With world records broken on the ice and some extreme actions celebrated on the snow, the Beijing Winter Olympics wrapped up its 10th day of competitions in grand style on Friday.

After four solid runs along the 1.65-kilometer track, China's men's skeleton racer Yan Wengang won the country's first Olympic bronze medal in the adrenaline-pumping sliding sport with a cumulative time of 4 min 1.77 sec at the National Sliding Center in northwest Beijing's Yanqing district.

German duo Christopher Grotheer and Axel Jungk finished first in 4:01.01 and 0.66 second later to win gold and silver, respectively, in the sport, which involves a pilot hurtling headfirst down a frozen track on a thin sled.

The National Speed Skating Oval witnessed the first world record across all sports at Beijing 2022 being smashed in the afternoon session, when Swedish speed skater Nils van der Poel clocked 12:30.74 to win the men's 10,000 meters while breaking his own record by more than two seconds. The gold medal was Van der Poel's second in Beijing after winning the first in the 5,000 meters earlier at the venue, dubbed the "Ice Ribbon" for its sleek look.

Patrick Roest of the Netherlands finished with silver, with Italy's Davide Ghiotto, who raced with Van der Poel in the same pair, claiming bronze.

"I feel like, 'Yeah, I have this in my body on a good day,' and it played out that way," the Swede said of his record-breaking run.

Van der Poel's world-leading time on Friday was the only one among all the sport's world records in 12 Olympic events, including individual and team, set on a track built at sea level, while the rest were made in Salt Lake City, Utah, the United States, where thinner air-compared to the denser atmosphere in flat areas-gives athletes a tiny yet vital edge to push for a faster time.

Later in the women's 1,000 meters short track speed skating, Dutch star Suzanne Schulting broke the second world record at the Games by finishing her quarterfinal heat in the world's fastest time of 1:26.514 before carrying on the momentum to win the final in 1:28.391 at the Capital Indoor Stadium.

None of China's three women managed to advance into the semifinals after all finished far behind in their respective quarterfinal heats.

In the men's 5,000-meter relay's semifinal race, the host team suffered a scare when skater Li Wenlong fell off the track following a collision with a Canadian skater with 11 laps to go, but still advanced into Wednesday's final, thanks to a ruling that ratified its leading status with no penalties given for Li's tumble.

Among all of the compelling storylines on Friday, snowboarding legend Shaun White's emotional farewell run in halfpipe at the Olympics plunged his global fan base into sorrow after the American great finished in fourth place at his fifth and final Winter Games in Beijing's co-host Zhangjiakou, Hebei province.

As a three-time gold medalist in the event, the 35-year-old California native was outscored by a group of much younger opponents, who grew up watching him since his Olympic debut in 2002, even after scoring 85 points in the final.

By stomping three 1440 tricks in style, Japan's Ayumu Hirano scored 96 points with his high-difficulty third run to win gold, while Scotty James of Australia and Switzerland's Jan Sherrer finished with silver and bronze, respectively.

"The entire thing, all the way up to this, it's been this revolving door of emotions, trying to suppress certain emotions to get the job done but then say, hey look, you've earned it, enjoy it, every step. Collect the pins. Run out in the Opening Ceremony," White said, relishing his Olympic experience after the final.

Earlier in the morning at the National Alpine Skiing Center in Yanqing, Swiss skier Lara Gut-Behrami came back from her near miss off the podium four years ago to claim her first Olympic gold medal in the women's super-G by finishing first in 1:13.51.