China captured the gold medal in the first short track mixed team relay in Winter Olympic Games history on Saturday morning.
Italy picked up the silver medal and Hungary the bronze.
"I’ve been waiting for this gold medal for 12 years," China's Fan Kexin said in a press conference. "I’ve waited for it for so long. I will always believe in the team."
China's win came after it nearly missed the final altogether. The United States crossed the finish line second in the semifinal, in position to advance to the final. However, after a lengthy review of nearly five minutes, the U.S. was penalized for blocking an infield skater. The disqualification allowed third-place China to advance and compete for gold.
In the final, the Italians gave China a fight down the stretch, falling by only 0.016 seconds. China held a sizable lead before Italy closed the gap over the final few laps. Pietro Sighel reached out his skate and nearly snatched the victory away from Wu Dajing
“It was a huge relief," Wu said afterward. "I have experienced too much in the past four years. Now we finally realized our dream on the first day."
Canada missed out on a medal after getting penalized for a push that caused a crash with Hungary in the middle of the final. The incident split the competition up with China and Italy battling for first while Canada and Hungary scrambled to get back in the race.
History was made as Italian skater Arianna Fontana won her ninth Olympic medal, which is the most all-time for short track.
The next set of events will take place on Monday. Visit NBCOlympics.com for a full short track schedule.