“I feel very emotional now, because it’s the first gold for China [men],” Gao told CCTV. “I hope China’s speedskating gets better in the future. Maybe because the Chinese audience is quite passionate, that’s why I feel more emotional than usual.”

It was Gao’s second Olympic medal, having claimed bronze in Pyeongchang, then becoming China’s first-ever men’s medallist in Olympic speedskating. He added to the two gold medals China won in the short-track speedskating competition and Eileen Gu’s triumph in the freestyle skiing big air event.

Gao’s gold enhances China’s reputation as an world-class outfit in speedskating and in the short-track form. Ren Ziwei won gold in the men’s short-track speedskating 1,000m and also helped the mainland to gold in the mixed team relay. Ren and Pyeongchang gold medallist Wu Dajing are also among the favourites for the Beijing Games men’s 500m short-track title.

Chinese social media praised their new hero after Gao’s victory, with viewers heartened by the way he covered himself with the national flag.

“He was celebrating this historic moment with the national flag wrapped around his neck!” one Weibo user said. “Congratulations Gao Tingyu! Congratulations Team China!” another wrote.

In Sochi, 2014, Zhang Hong became China’s first long-form Olympic speedskating champion when she won the women’s 1,000m title.

Zhang, in fact, was one of Gao’s sporting idols growing up, along with seven-time NBA All-Star player Tracey McGrady. The skater took up the sport in primary school because he said he loved skating and made his international debut in 2016.

His breakthrough came at the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Games when he took bronze, singling him out as a potential gold medallist for his home Olympics in Beijing.

Gao firmly established himself as one of the favourites for 2022 with 500m victory at the Tomaszow Mazowiecki World Cup in November last year.

Gao was China’s only realistic medal hope on day eight of the Beijing Games when six titles were up for grabs.

“I said it and I did it,” Gao told Chinese news website The Paper. “My coaches worked too hard. It was not easy. To be with me, they sacrificed their time with their families.

“My mental state is in its best form, but not so physically. Yesterday, my leg muscles were still strained. But I’m here already, in my home country, got it done and over with.”

While Gao celebrated in victory, China’s men’s ice hockey team celebrated in defeat as they went down 3-2 to Germany in their second group match. After losing 8-0 to the USA in their first game, China scored goals for the first time at the Winter Olympics ice hockey tournament, fighing back from 3-0 down to give Germany a scare.

In cross-country women’s 4x5km relay, Russia’s Yulia Stupak, Natalia Nepryaeva (both skiing classic), Tatiana Sorina, and Veronika Stepanova (both skiing freestyle) clinched gold in 53 minutes 41.0 seconds. Germany took silver and Sweden the bronze.

Nick Baumgartner became the oldest snowboard Olympic medallist and champion, at 40 years of age, partnering Lindsey Jacobellis to gold in the mixed team snowboard cross finals at Genting Snow Park.

Italy’s Omar Visintin and Michela Moioli won silver while Canadians Eliot Grondin and Meryeta Odine took the bronze.

Norway’s 12-time world champion Johannes Thingnes Boe won the men’s biathlon 10km sprint at the Zhangjiakou National Biathlon Centre, beating out the challenge of France’s Quentin Fillon Maillet (silver) and older brother Tarjei Boe (bronze).

Norway’s Marius Lindvik soared to victory in the men’s ski jumping individual large hill with 296.1 total points, beating out Japan’s silver medallist Ryoyu Kobayashi (292.8 points) and Germany’s Karl Geiger, who won bronze with 281.3 points.

In the women’s skeleton, Germany’s world junior champion is now Olympic champion after taking gold in the last event of day eight. Australia’s Jaclyn Narracott won silver and Kimberley Bos, of the Netherlands, took the bronze.