Germany leads medal table at Beijing 2022 halfway

Gao Tingyu became the first Chinese male Olympic champion in speed skating when he won the 500m event with an Olympic record time here on Saturday, reported Xinhua.

Gao, one of China's flagbearers at the opening ceremony, clocked a winning time of 34.32 seconds in the National Speed Skating Oval, beating the previous Olympic mark of 34.41 seconds set by Haavard Holmefjord Lorentzen of Norway at the 2018 PyeongChang Games.

"It's completely a dream come true," exclaimed Gao, who draped himself in China's national flag while in tears as spectators in the Oval, dubbed the Ice Ribbon, rose to their feet with loud applause and cheers.

"I said it, and I made it," Gao said, noting that he was resolved to upgrade the color of his bronze medal won four years ago in PyeongChang, South Korea.

The 24-year-old, who had the fastest opener, revealed that he was eying for a record-breaking performance before the race, and felt a bit pitiful that he fell short of sub-34.1.

"It's shameful if you win a gold without breaking the Olympic record at the Ice Ribbon," Gao joked.

The venue has witnessed eight new Olympic marks and one world record lowered in eight events ever since the speed skating competitions got underway from February 5.

Cha Min-kyu of South Korea seized the silver in 34.39 seconds, while Wataru Morishige of Japan finished third in 34.49 seconds.

Reigning world champion Laurent Dubreuil from Canada missed the podium by 0.03 seconds.

The other Chinese flagbearer, Zhao Dan, finished ninth in the women's skeleton in her Olympic debut, which was the best result for a Chinese female skeleton racer.

The gold went to Hannah Neise, who secured the eighth gold medal for Germany at Beijing 2022 in a combined time of four minutes and 07.62 seconds.

German athletes have been dominating sliding sports after sweeping four golds in luge and two in skeleton.

Jaclyn Narracott, surprise leader at the halfway mark on Friday, took the silver 0.62 seconds behind Neise, which was enough for her to make history as the first Australian to earn an Olympic medal in sliding sports.

Kimberley Bos of the Netherlands bagged the bronze in 4:08.46, edging reigning world champion Tina Hermann from Germany to fourth by 0.27 seconds.

History was also made by American duo Nick Baumgartner and Lindsey Jacobellis, who triumphed in the snowboard mixed team cross, a newly-introduced event and the last snowboard competition staged at the Genting Snow Park in Chongli.

With the victory, Baumgartner, 40, and Jacobellis, 36, became the oldest male and female riders crowned in Winter Games history.

"The team event is always so much fun. It's a different energy at the top, and to be able to take this with someone I've been on the team with for over a decade - close to two decades now with Baum - it's incredible to accomplish this together," said Jacobellis, who had notched gold in the women's snowboard cross on Wednesday.

The Italian pair of Omar Visintin and Michela Moioli bagged the silver and Canadians Eliot Grondin and Meryeta Odine took the bronze.

Elsewhere on Saturday, the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) edged Germany in the women's cross-country skiing 4x5km relay thanks to a storming run by Veronika Stepanova in the final leg.

The ROC clocked 53 minutes and 41 seconds, 18.2 seconds ahead of Germany. Sweden came third 2.5 seconds further back.

At 21 years and 39 days, Stepanova becomes the second youngest medalist in the women's relay event, after Hilkka Riihivuori-Kuntola from Finland at 19 years and 49 days in 1972.

Johannes Thingnes Boe won his second gold at Beijing 2022 in the men's 10km sprint biathlon, after mixed relay 4x6km victory with Team Norway.

Finishing in 24:00.4, the 28-year-old shared the podium with his brother Tarjei, who won a bronze 38.9 seconds behind and France's Quentin Fillon Maillet, who came second with one miss in prone, 25.5 seconds short of the winner.

In ski jumping, Marius Lindvik clinched Norway's first men's large hill individual gold medal since 1964 with a comeback second jump of 140 meters.

Scoring 296.1 points overall, the 23-year-old beat normal hill winner Japan's Ryoyu Kobayashi by 3.3 points for his maiden Olympic gold and the eighth for Norway at Beijing 2022.

German ski jumper Karl Geiger bagged a bronze, and three-time Olympic champion Kamil Stoch of Poland finished fourth.

As Beijing 2022 reaches its halfway mark, Germany continues to lead the medal tally with eight gold, five silver and one bronze medals, followed by Norway, also with eight golds but three silvers. China stands seventh on the table with four golds.

Seven gold medals in Alpine skiing, biathlon, cross-country skiing, short track speed skating and speed skating will be contested on Sunday.