Ren Ziwei of China won the gold medal at the men's 1000m short track event on Monday.
Ren finished just behind Hungary's Liu Shaolin in the final, but Liu was penalized after a review and the victory was awarded to Ren.
"It was really intense," Ren said in a press conference. "There were collisions. It was a tough race.”
Li Wenlong grabbed the silver medal for China and Liu Shaoang, Shaolin's brother, picked up the bronze.
Liu and Ren were battling throughout the entire last lap, and the Hungarian stuck out his skate to get the edge. There was a lot of contact, though, as the Hungarian tried to hold off Ren. Liu was given a yellow card, signifying that he committed multiple penalties during the race. He appeared to have crossed the blue line earlier, as well.
Ren secured China's first ever Olympic gold medal in the men's 1000m event. He also won gold in the mixed team relay on Saturday.
SEE MORE: China clinches gold in short track 2000m mixed team relay
China benefitted from a massive penalty in the semifinal, as well. South Korea'sHwang Dae-Heon passed Ren and Li on an aggressive move inside, but he was disqualified for creating contact. That call changed the outlook of the final, as three of the five skaters in it were on the Chinese team. That created a unique strategic situation and eliminated the world record holder, Hwang.
The final was a chess match with the Hungarian brothers trying to gain an edge together while the Chinese kept them separated.
“We help each other out on the route when racing," Li said.
The entire men's 1000m event was filled with drama. There were a total of 11 penalties called which resulted in a lot of crashes. The final was restarted after half the race since there was a shard of metal from a skate on the track.
SEE MORE: South Korea's Hwang Dae-Heon penalized in men's 1000m semi
American results
Andrew Heo finished third in the B Final on Monday.
He also placed third in his semifinal, a race with six skaters due to advancements that occurred from a crash-heavy quarterfinal. Heo stayed patient behind the pack for most of the race before making moves to pass, but the American crossed the finish line fourth. He was jettisoned to third after a penalty was called on South Korea's Lee June-Seo.
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Ryan Pivirotto's day ended early, as he fell forward after his skate dug into the ice at the start of his quarterfinal race.
Quarterfinal chaos
Heo won his quarterfinal, an adventurous race with three skaters sliding out. He was left trailing Canada's Jordan Pierre-Gillies after the crashes, whom he passed for the win. Pierre-Gillies was penalized and eliminated, which sent China's Wu Dajing and South Korea's Park Jang-Hyuk through.
In the final quarterfinal race, Dutch skater Sjinkie Knegt was penalized twice, which advanced Liu Shaolin and Li.
There were penalties in all four quarterfinal races, seven in total. Eleven skaters reached the semifinal instead of 10 as a result, although Park did not continue due to injury.
The next short track events are on Wednesday. The men's 1500m medals are on the line, there will be heats for the women's 1000m and semifinals for the women's 3000m relay.
