BEIJING (Reuters) – Hwang Dae-heon added the Olympic record to his world best time as he qualified for the quarter-finals of the short track speed skating 1,000 metres event at the Beijing Games on Saturday.
Hwang dominated a tightly-contested heat in one minute 23.042 seconds to beat the mark set by Canada’s Charles Hamelin in 2018 by 0.365 seconds.
It was more than two seconds off the world record he set in 2016 but more than good enough to go through alongside Sjinkie Knegt of the Netherlands.
Wu Dajing, the 500 metres Olympic champion, led his heat from start to finish to progress, as well as fellow Chinese Ren Ziwei.
Liu Shaolin and his brother Liu Shaoang, skating for Hungary but who have a Chinese father, both advanced after winning their heats.
The quarter-finals, semis and final of the 1,000m will be contested on Monday.
(Reporting by Julien Pretot; Editing by Ed Osmond)
