Day 6 Roundup: China's Sun takes short track silver, Chloe Kim's three-peat bid falls short at Milan-Cortina

MILAN, Feb. 12 (Xinhua) -- China's Sun Long rebounded from earlier disappointment to claim silver in the men's 1,000 meters short track speed skating on Thursday, earning the country's first medal of the discipline at Milan-Cortina 2026.

The two-time Olympian finished in one minute, 24.565 seconds, just 0.028 behind gold medalist Jens van 'T Wout of the Netherlands. South Korea's Rim Jong-un took bronze in 1:24.611.

"I told myself to stay steady and take it round by round," Sun said, fighting back tears. "I wasn't thinking about a specific medal, just keeping a good position and avoiding mistakes."

The result came two days after Sun's costly error in the mixed team relay left China in fourth place, a setback he admitted was hard to overcome. "It's not easy to recover in such a short time," he said. "But the team supported me. Once a race is over, you move on and focus on the next one."

Earlier at the Milano Ice Skating Arena, Dutch star Xandra Velzeboer shattered the women's 500m short track world record, clocking 41.399 seconds in the semifinals to better her own mark set in 2022. She went on to claim gold in 41.609.

While much of the attention was on American star Chloe Kim's attempt at a historic third straight Olympic snowboard halfpipe title, South Korea's Choi Ga-on delivered the shock of the Games.

17-year-old Choi stormed to gold in the women's halfpipe final with a stunning final run, denying Kim a three-peat and securing South Korea's first gold medal of the Games.

Snowfall made conditions treacherous, triggering crashes throughout the competition. Choi fell on her first two runs and entered the final attempt largely unnoticed. She then delivered a flawless, high-difficulty ride to score 90.25, the top mark of the final.

"Mentally it was so tough," Choi said. "My knees aren't great, but right now I'm the happiest I've ever been."

Kim, two-time defending Olympic champion, led after the first run with 88 points but was unable to improve. "I'm so proud of her," Kim said. "That's what this sport is about - inspiring the next generation." Japan's Mitsuki Ono took bronze, while China's Cai Xuetong finished sixth.

Austria's Alessandro Haemmerle defended his men's snowboard cross title in dramatic fashion, edging Canada's Eliot Grondin by 0.03 seconds in a photo finish, nearly identical to his victory margin at the Beijing Games. Jakob Dusek of Austria took bronze.

Australia's Cooper Woods produced one of the Games' biggest breakthroughs, defeating Canadian moguls legend Mikael Kingsbury on a tiebreak after both scored 83.71 points. Woods earned gold on superior turns, while Japan's Ikuma Horishima took bronze.

Host nation Italy celebrated its first alpine skiing gold as Federica Brignone powered to victory in the women's super-G. France's Romane Miradoli won silver and Austria's Cornelia Huetter took bronze, both earning their first Olympic medals.

Elsewhere, Italy's Francesca Lollobrigida captured her second Olympic gold medal by edging Merel Conijn of the Netherlands by 0.10 seconds in the women's 5,000m speed skating. Norway's Ragne Wiklund claimed bronze.

Sweden's Frida Karlsson claimed her second gold at the Games in the women's cross-country 10km individual event, following her victory in the women's 10km+10km skiathlon, while her teammate Ebba Andersson placed second.

Germany took gold in the team relay with a new track record of three minutes 41.672 seconds to wrap up the luge competition. Austria and Italy finished second and third respectively.

In skeleton, Britain's Matt Weston surged into the lead after two runs, breaking the track record with a blistering 55.88 seconds and taking a 0.30-second advantage into the final day.

Canada sent an early message in men's ice hockey. Macklin Celebrini scored the first goal of the NHL's Olympic return and Jordan Binnington made 26 saves, as Canada routed the Czech Republic 5-0, showcasing the tournament favorite's depth despite most of the roster making its Olympic debut.

The United States rolled past Latvia 5-1, while Germany earned a 3-1 victory over Denmark. ■