Confusion reigns after Chinese men's short track relay team advances on judge ruling
The Chinese men's 5000m short track speed skating relay team advanced to the final on Thursday night in Beijing, but no one was quite sure how. And many watching felt it was oddly similar to the mixed team relay competition in which China also advanced amid controversy.
China raced in the first 5000m relay semifinal with Canada, Italy and Japan. With around 10 of 45 laps remaining, Canada and China were first and second, respectively, when a gap opened on the straight-away portion of the track. China's Li Wenlong went for the pass and was briefly abreast with Canada's Pascal Dion when Wenlong wiped out.
He went directly into the boards as Canada took the corner and full command of the lead. The race opened up considerably with Italy into second and Japan in third. China skated back in, but trailed everyone. By initial finish, Canada and Italy automatically advanced with two more to join after the second semifinal race.
A replay on NBC's Peacock streaming package showed the right skate of Wenlong potentially tapping the skate of Dion while he pushed for the pass. The Canadian's skate was down and China could have simply over-pushed, tapping the competitor's skate, as he attempted to re-take the lead.
Judges underwent a lengthy review of the pass. It was a confusing time frame for viewers as they weren't explained the rules by commentators who simply repeated "there's a lot being looked at here." There was no announcement of a penalty, but China was listed as "advanced" despite being 12.288 seconds back of winner Canada on the results sheet.
"Final A," the championship heat on Feb. 16, will consist of China, Canada, Italy, South Korea and the Russian Olympic Committee. The Netherlands, Hungary and Japan will compete in a consolation bracket for places 6-8.
Penalties in short track skating
Penalties in short track competitions are commonly levied for deliberately blocking, charging, impeding or pushing another skater. Competitors can be disqualified for two false starts, skating inside the turn markers rather than staying in the wide lane, slowing down unnecessarily and/or conspiring with other races to impact the outcome.
They can also be disqualified for kicking out a skate and diving across the finish line. Relay rules do not allow interference to other teams during exchanges and require non-racing members to stay inside the turn markers.
Via the 2021-22 International Skating Union Media Guide for rule infractions:
IMPEDING: Impeding, blocking, charging, or pushing another Skater with any part of the body. Interfere with another Skater by crossing his/her course thereby causing contact;
KICKING OUT: Kicking out of any skate during any part of a race thereby causing danger including at the finish line or throwing the body across the finish line is forbidden.
Disqualifications are given for infringements, but no competitor was disqualified from the 5000m relay.
Chinese controversy at short track
It's the second short track speed skating controversy involving China at these games. The first was on Sunday in the mixed team relay competition. Team USA appeared to advance through the semifinal, finishing second behind Hungary, but the race went under review to determine if China was impeded. The Chinese came in third.
It was determined after a lengthy review that China was impeded twice and both Russia and Team USA were disqualified. China moved into the qualifying spot for the final and some questioned if it was warranted. Team USA's Ryan Pivirotto was penalized for crossing the blue line early, impeding China in the process, and simply wrote on Twitter "lessons learned" and it was time to look forward to the next competition.
China went on to win gold with Wu Dajing finishing .016 seconds ahead of Italy's Pietro Sighel. That finish was also placed under review. It was China's first gold of the games.
