Canada's Charles Hamelin took gold in the men's 1,500-meter short skate, while a photo freeze-frame was needed to separate Han Yuan of China in second from Russia's Viktor Ahn, who took bronze.
Hamelin's win — in a time of 2:14:985 — brings the fourth gold medal of his Olympic career, but it is his first win in this discipline. Yuan and Ahn finished with times of 2:15.055 and 2:15.062, respectively.
The result was not the one hoped for by the home crowd, who were cheering on Viktor Ahn every step of the way.
Ahn — a native of Seoul, South Korea — competed for years under his home flag, before switching nationalities in 2011, citing conflicts and a lack of support from his management team. It was during this time that Ahn changed his name from Hyun Soo to the more Russian-sounding "Viktor."
"It was my father who searched the Internet for a possible destination … I could have moved to America but ended up" in Russia. "Please, don't get me wrong — I have no regrets," Ahn said, Reuters reported.
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