Photo/Illutration Gao Tingyu of China poses during a medal ceremony after winning the gold medal and setting an Olympic record in the men's speedskating 500-meter race at the 2022 Winter Olympics on Feb. 12 in Beijing. Left is silver medalist Cha Min-kyu of South Korea and right is bronze medalist Wataru Morishige of Japan. (AP Photo)

BEIJING--When China's Gao Tingyu hopped onto the podium at the Beijing Olympics to receive his gold medal in the men's 500-meter speed skating on Saturday, he marked a special moment for Asian sport--and one that could give Chinese speed skating in particular a boost.

Gao was flanked by South Korea's Cha Min-kyu and Japan's Wataru Morishige, completing the first ever Olympic podium involving three different Asian countries in speed skating's shortest event, where the powerhouse Dutch have been less dominant over the years.

The last all-Asian men's 500m podium was in Vancouver, when Korea's Mo Tae-bum took gold and Japanese skaters claimed the silver and bronze.

"That all Asians have won medals--Korea, China and Japan--is very good. I'm happy that Korea is one of them," Cha said after the race.

“The people back home were really hopeful and doing things like making posters for me. It was really encouraging to see that," Morishige said. "I’m glad I could deliver a bronze medal to them.”

Asian countries have much more of a foothold in the men's 500m than in other distances, but they still lag behind countries such as the United States and Norway in the medal tally.

Saturday's three-nation podium could trigger more interest in the sport in China, however, where speed skating has struggled to grow--and Gao's record-breaking run will only fuel that interest.

"As the first Chinese gold medal winner of speed skating in men's competition, I have a good start for this sport in China. I think we will be unstoppable in the future. We are not that strong at this moment, so we need to carry on our work," Gao said after his race.

"As a Chinese, you need to walk the talk and fulfil your promises," he added.

Gao won China its first men's speed skating gold, smashing the Olympic record to cross the finish line in 34.32 seconds.

Gao set the pace early as the seventh pairing out of 15, with a huge cheer that seemed to echo from the depths of the National Speed Skating Oval greeting him as he stood on the start line.

The cheers grew progressively louder as he began closing in on the Olympic record at breakneck speed, finishing the single lap around the oval in a time that his rivals ultimately failed to beat.

"You have to break the Olympic record or you cannot win the gold, this is a really fast venue... and the skaters are showing a really high level of performance so I don't think it's a surprise to break the record," Gao said after the race.

Cha of South Korea claimed silver in 34.39 seconds and Morishige of Japan took bronze in 34.49.

Favorite Laurent Dubreuil of Canada missed out on a podium place, finishing fourth and two-tenths of a second behind Gao with a time of 34.52 seconds.

Anticipation in the oval grew as Dubreuil stood on the starting line with Japan's Tatsuya Shinhama in the last pairing. Almost as if to break that pressure, they began with a false start, before shaking off the tension and getting under way.

Their times could not match that of Gao, however, and the oval exploded in exhilaration when they saw that China had added a gold to its medal tally.

After the last pair finished, Gao did a victory lap around the oval with the Chinese flag draped around his shoulders, savoring the moment as he looked up at the spectators. At one point he let out a roar and broke into a wide smile.

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