MILAN, Feb. 19 (Xinhua) -- China's Ning Zhongyan upset title favorite Jordan Stolz of the United States to claim gold in the men's 1,500m speed skating with a new Olympic record, while ski mountaineering made its debut amidst blizzard conditions at the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics on Thursday.
Ning, who had collected two bronzes in the 1,000m and team pursuit, clocked one minute 41.98 seconds to secure China's first-ever Olympic gold in the distance.
Reflecting on his journey after finishing seventh at Beijing 2022, Ning said the breakthrough felt like finally scaling a mountain he once believed was impossible to climb.
"After the Beijing Winter Olympics, the level in speed skating just kept getting higher and higher. It felt like there was a mountain in front of me, and no matter what I did, I just could not get past it," he said.
"But I never stopped believing in myself. I kept telling myself to stay patient, keep putting in the work and trust that all the effort would add up one day. Today was that day. Even now, it still feels a little unreal that I was able to do this."
With Ning's triumph, China's medal tally now stands at three golds, three silvers and four bronzes.
Stolz, who had won gold in both the 500m and 1,000m earlier in the Games, finished 0.77 seconds behind to take silver. Defending champion Kjeld Nuis of the Netherlands claimed bronze in 1:42.82.
Oriol Cardona Coll of Spain and Switzerland's Marianne Fatton captured the first-ever Olympic ski mountaineering gold medals in the respective men's and women's sprint events.
In the women's sprint, Fatton delivered a decisive move in the final transition, surging to the front to secure the win with a time of two minutes 59.77 seconds and add it to her 2025 world title. She crossed the line 2.38 seconds ahead of France's Emily Harrop, who settled for silver. Spain's Ana Alonso Rodriguez rounded out the podium.
"It's a magical day. It's history for our sport, and for us as athletes," Fatton said after her win.
Reigning world champion Cardona Coll powered to the men's victory in 2:34.03, capturing Spain's first Winter Olympic gold medal since 1972. Individual neutral athlete Nikita Filippov claimed silver, while France's Thibault Anselmet took bronze.
In Nordic combined, Norway's Jens Luraas Oftebro and Andreas Skoglund clinched gold in the men's team sprint, holding off Finland by just half a second in a dramatic cross-country battle amid swirling snow. Oftebro secured his third gold of the Games, while Skoglund earned his first Olympic medal. Austria took bronze.
Also on Thursday, the United States edged Canada 2-1 in overtime to claim the women's ice hockey gold, while American figure skater Alysa Liu triumphed in the women's event with a total score of 226.79 points.
Defending champion Gu Ailing overcame an early scare to advance to the women's freeski halfpipe final. Competing first, the Chinese star fell on her opening run but regrouped to score 86.50 on her second attempt, finishing fifth in the qualification. Three other Chinese skiers, Li Fanghui, Zhang Kexin and Liu Yishan, also progressed.
Persistent heavy snowfall continued to disrupt the competition schedule, prompting officials to postpone the men's freestyle aerials event once again. The event has now been rescheduled for Friday. Meanwhile, the men's freeski halfpipe qualification has also been moved to Friday. Enditem
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