China's Ning Zhongyan won the men's 1,500-meter bronze medal at the first leg of Speed Skating World Cup in Norway on Friday, clocking 1:46.685, after American Jordan Stolz in 1:44.891 and Canadian Connor Howe in 1:46.656.

Ning, 23, won two gold and two silver from last year's World Cup series, but fell short on winning a medal at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics in February. 

Aimed at the Milan Cortina Games in 2026, Team China kicked off their campaign this season in Stavanger, with the absence of Olympic champion Gao Tingyu who temporarily stepped aside to adjust himself. The International Skating Union (ISU) World Cup series features five legs and the Final across Norway, the Netherlands, Canada, and Poland.