Short track speed skater Sun Long bags silver for China in men's 1,000m at Milano Cortina 2026

Chinese short track speed skater Sun Long claimed the first Olympic medal of his career on Thursday, taking silver in the men's 1,000 meters at the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympics in a time of 1:24.565, just 0.028 seconds behind Dutch winner Jens van't Wout. The Republic of Korea's Rim Jong‑un grabbed bronze in 1:24.611.

"I've done all I can do," said the two‑time Olympian Sun. "I shown all I have from daily training. I couldn't decide how this final or this Olympics developed. I could only focus on performing my best."

The individual result was perhaps a bit sweeter due to the recent sting of the mixed team relay, in which an error from Sun contributed to China finishing fourth.

"It's not easy to recover in such a short time," he admitted. "But nobody on the team blamed me. Everyone knew I was trying to create an overtaking opportunity. It was a long and tough day. Still, the competition doesn't wait for you."

Sun is now looking forward to building on his breakthrough.

"There are still three events left for me," he added. "I need to go step by step, keeping my feet on the ground. No matter what result I've achieved today, I will start from zero again. The next three events are crucial as well."

Beijing 2022 bronze medalist Liu Shaoang finished fourth in his semifinal, before winning Final B to place sixth overall, while Lin Xiaojun did not progress past the earlier rounds, ending the competition ranked 17th.