Arianna Fontana of Italy won the first individual short track gold medal at the 2022 Winter Olympic Games: the women’s 500m. She successfully defended her title after winning the gold in this discipline at the Winter Olympics in 2018. The win gave Fontana her 10th-career Olympic medal, which is the most all-time for short track speed skating.
Fontana, 31, used a beautiful inside pass to get in front of Dutch skater Suzanne Schulting, who jumped in front at the start of the race.
Schulting, 24, finished in second and earned the silver medal.
Canada’s Kim Boutin came in third, grabbing the bronze medal for the second straight Winter Olympic Games.
Fontana had an impressive semifinal showing, as well, passing Boutin on an outside move en route to a win.
Schulting blew past her competition in the semifinal and was not challenged, setting up a titan finale with Fontana.
Fontana won a silver medal in the mixed team relay to start these Olympics. She won three medals at the 2018 Winter Olympic Games and has multiple chances to match or surpass that going forward.
Early exits for Santos, Biney
Americans Kristen Santos and Maame Biney failed to advance past the quarterfinal. Santos was penalized for an aggressive move that caused a collision between her and Japanese skater Sumire Kikuchi.
Biney fell behind and struggled to close the gap in her race. She finished in third place, besting Dutch skaters Selma Poutsma, who crashed into the padding, and Xandra Velzeboer, who received a penalty.
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