Speedsters set breathless Beijing pace

On the men's side, middle-distance specialist Ning Zhongyan stole the show as his teammate Gao Tingyu, the reigning 500m Olympic champion, returned to the ice. Ning claimed his second 1,500m bronze medal in a row, following his third-place finish at the opening leg in Obihiro, Japan.

Paired with eventual winner and double Olympic champion Kjeld Nuis, Ning kept up with the pace of the Dutch star to clock 1:45.51, just 0.71 sec slower than Nuis' winning mark. Dutch long-distance star Patrick Roest, winner of the 5,000m on Saturday, took silver in 1:45.36.

"I am quite pleased with winning back-to-back medals, but my goal is to go for a better result at the world championships this season," said Ning, who, together with younger teammates Du Haonan and Liu Bin, claimed silver in Saturday's team sprint behind the United States.

Olympic champ Gao drew the loudest cheer from the crowd when he was introduced ahead of his first international race in 21 months. He finished fourth in the 500m Group A final on Saturday after qualifying by topping the Group B final on Friday.

Although not going as fast as he'd hoped, Gao took pride in his performance after taking a long break from racing following his Beijing 2022 heroics due to a lower back injury.

"Not as fast as I'd planned but it was a good skate when you consider that I am still not 100 percent after just coming back from a long layoff," said Gao, who clocked 34.94 to finish fourth, 0.62 seconds slower than his own track and Olympic record achieved at Beijing 2022.

"I'd rather take it slowly and gradually, not making a big noise until I let everyone know my name again at the 2026 Games, just like I did leading up to Beijing 2022," he said.

With Beijing's Olympic oval — also known as the "Ice Ribbon" due to its sleek design — hosting international races again, foreign skaters heaped praise on the venue's Olympic-standard facilities.

"It's so good to be back," said Takagi, who won three silver and one gold medal at Beijing 2022.

Reigning women's 500m Olympic champion Erin Jackson was also delighted to return to the venue where she shone at Beijing 2022.

"Yeah, I feel great. There is a little bit of excitement just walking back here again," said the American sprinter, who became the first black woman to win a speed skating Olympic gold in 500m in Beijing.

"You can't help but feel kind of special after the Olympics that I had here. I think it gave me a little extra boost."