Chinese short track speed skater Fan Kexin competes in the women's 3,000 meters relay on February 13, 2022. Photo: VCG

China's women's short track speed skating team won a bronze medal in the 3,000 meters relay of the Beijing 2022 Winter Games on Sunday evening.

The Chinese women competed against the Netherlands, South Korea and Canada in the final. They finished the event with a time of 4:03.863, to be ranked at the third place behind South Korea, pinned down a silver medal, and the Netherlands came out on top with a Olympic record-renewing result of 4.03.409.

Led by veteran short track champion Fan ­Kexin who took the first leg of the leg of the relay, the three other teammates were Qu Chunyu, Zhang Chutong and Zhang Yuting, by which the 22-year-old Zhang Yuting won her first Olympic gold from the competition as it was also her first time participated in the Winter Olympics.  

The 29-year-old Fan, was a highlight of Team China's success of the competition. In the last round of competition, Fan surpassed the ­Canadian team, leading China to nail the precious bronze medal in almost the last second. 

The skater was seen kissing the icy surface of the competition ground to show her excitement after the competition. Fan, the team's veteran skater in the women's national team won her first 3,000 meters World Cup title in 2010 and another two 3,000 meters world championship titles in 2012 and 2014. 

Medalists of the women's 3,000 meters relay take a group selfie on February 13, 2022. Photo: VCG

The women's short track speed skating team secured a seat for the final game after finishing second at the semifinal group competition on Wednesday. 

The qualification was ­considered by many as a turn-the-tide ­opportunity for the women's team to success on the first individual event of the Beijing 2022 Games following the "1,000 meters all-out waterloo" of Qu, Han and Zhang on Friday. 

"It is already a good sign that they can make it to final. ­Focus! And care less about their ­competitors," said a netizen on Sina ­Weibo. 

The team's bronze medal has also been celebrated by fans on the Twitter-like Sina Weibo, getting more than 94 million views as of press time. 

"What a steady performance! The last two rounds really show our team's potential, I'm excited as I was in 2010," said a netizen. 

In 2010, the women's team of China won the Olympic gold medal of the 3,000 meters relay competition in Vancouver, Canada, despite being interfered by illegal contact of a South Korean skater. 

The success is a milestone of Team China to break through the dominance of major ­competitors such as the Netherlands and South Korea teams in the sport for 16 years . 

Including this bronze medal, China's short track speed staking team has so far won two gold medals, one silver and one bronze medals in the Beijing Games.