Winter Olympics: Belgium win first gold for 74 years

Bart SwingsGetty Images

Bart Swings had won silver four years ago before upgrading to a historic gold in Beijing

24th Winter Olympic Games

Hosts: Beijing, China Dates: 4-20 February

Coverage: Watch live on BBC TV, BBC iPlayer, BBC Red Button and online; listen on BBC Radio 5 Live and BBC Sounds; live text and highlights on BBC Sport website and mobile app

Belgium won their first Winter Olympics gold medal for 74 years when speed skater Bart Swings surged to victory in the men's mass start at Beijing 2022.

The 31-year-old, who won silver in 2018, was second going into the final corner but found an extra gear in the sprint for the line.

"It's historical and it's unbelievable," he said.

"The next thing after silver is gold. I know it was ambitious and it's a dream to work towards."

It was his country's first Winter Olympics gold since pairs figure skaters Micheline Lannoy and Pierre Baugniet triumphed in 1948.

South Koreans Chung Jae Won and Lee Seung Hoon took silver and bronze respectively.

Meanwhile, in the women's event Irene Schouten won her third gold medal of the Games to continue Dutch dominance of the discipline. Canada's Ivanie Blondin got silver and Italy's Francesca Lollobrigida picked up the bronze. Defending champion Nana Takagi had crashed out in the semi-final.

China's Sui Wenjing and Han Cong claimed figure skating pairs gold after narrowly missing out in Pyeongchang four years ago.

The two were half a point away from a gold medal in the last Games but produced a near-flawless routine in front of their home crowd to claim victory.

Their final score of 239.88 broke the world record of 239.82 held by Russians Anastasia Mishina and Aleksandr Galliamov, who had to settle for bronze in Beijing.

Fellow Russians Evgenia Tarasova and Vladimir Morozov took silver with 239.25.

There was a German one-two finish in the two-woman bobsleigh, with Laura Nolte and Deborah Levi taking gold with a total time of 4:03.96 across four runs.

Compatriots Mariama Jamanka and Alexandra Burghardt came second, finishing 0.77secs behind the gold medallists, with American pair Elana Meyers Taylor and Sylvia Hoffman taking bronze.

British pair Mica McNeil and Montell Douglas finished in 17th after a disappointing first two runs.

In cross-country, Russian Olympic Committee's Alexander Bolshunov won a third gold medal of these Olympics with victory in the men's 50km in a race that was shortened to 30km because of high winds.

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