Fresh off historic performances at the Harbin Asian Winter Games, China's Ning Zhongyan and Han Mei showcased their resilience by securing bronze medals in the men's and women's 1500m at the ISU World Cup Speed Skating opener in Tomaszow Mazowiecki, Poland, on Friday.
Ning, who dominated the Asian Winter Games with three golds, clocked an impressive time of 1:46.06 in the men's 1500 meters, finishing just 0.87 seconds behind American standout Jordan Stolz.
Meanwhile, Han Mei narrowly missed the silver, finishing 0.06 seconds behind Japan's Miho Takagi in the women's 1500 meters. Marijke Groenewoud of the Netherlands took the gold with a time of 1:56.91, while Chinese rising star Yang Binyu claimed sixth place.
These results in the season opener validate China's breakthroughs at Harbin 2025, where Han Mei's three golds and two silvers contributed to a record tally of 14 speed skating medals.
However, not all results were favorable for China. Gao Tingyu, the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics gold medalist, delivered a disappointing performance in the men's 500 meters, finishing 15th with a time of 35.11 seconds—0.16 seconds slower than his winning time earlier this month in Harbin.
Reference(s):
Chinese skaters launch World Cup campaign with double bronze in Poland
cgtn.com
