Winter Olympics: China's Tingyu Gao wins host nation's first ever speed skating gold

Tingyu Gao won Olympic bronze in 2018

Tingyu Gao became China's first ever male Olympic speed skating gold medallist after he set a new Games record to claim the 500m title.

Gao made history as the first male Chinese athlete to win a speed skating Olympic medal with his bronze in 2018.

The 24-year-old's time of 34.32 seconds was 0.09 faster than the previous record, set by Haavard Lorentzen of Norway in Pyeongchang four years ago.

South Korean Min-Kyu Cha took silver, with Japan's Wataru Morishige in third.

Team GB's Cornelius Kersten, whose favoured event is the 1,000m, which takes place on Friday, finished 25th.

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There was a long wait for Gao to discover if his performance would be enough for gold, having set his new Olympic record time as the seventh of 15 pairings.

But the tension eventually turned to celebration, the home support cheering Gao as he did a victory lap holding aloft a Chinese flag after winning his country's fourth gold of the Games.

"Tingyu Gao went in as the favourite and he really put down his performance," three-time Olympic short track speed skater Sarah Lindsay told BBC One.

"It was an untouchable start, nobody was going to catch him after that. It is really important for the home nation to really perform and it's under huge pressure, but Gao brought it on the day."

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