Canada wins gold in men's speed skating relay; Korea, Italy follow

Feb. 16 (UPI) -- Canada captured a gold medal in the final men's short track speed skating event of the 2022 Winter Games on Wednesday in Beijing. The Canadians edged South Korea and Italy for first place in the four-man competition.

Charles Hamelin, Steven Dubois, Jordan Pierre-Gilles and Pascal Dion clocked a 6:41.257 to win the final at Capital Indoor Stadium. Juneseo Lee, Daeheon Hwang, Yoongy Kwak and Janghyuk Park followed with a time of 6:41.679 in the 5,000-meter event.

Italians Pietro Sighel, Yuri Confortola, Tommaso Dotti and Andrea Cassinelli finished in 6:43.431 for the final spot on the podium.

The Russian Olympic Committee finished fourth, followed by China.

Dion and Hamelin also were members of the Canadian team that won bronze in the same event at the 2018 Winter Games. Hungary won that event in Gangneung, South Korea.

Canada also won the event in 1998, 2002 and 2010.

Hamelin is now a six-time Olympic medalist and four-time gold medalist. Dubois picked up his third medal in Beijing. He placed second in the 1500m final and third in the 500m final.

Dion earned his second Olympic medal, while Wednesday's win resulted in Pierre-Gilles first medal.