Short track continues at the Winter Olympics with five events on Wednesday starting at 6 a.m. ET. The men's 1500m quarterfinal, semifinal and final rounds are on the slate providing the next medal opportunity.
The women's 1000m heats and 3000m relay semifinals round out the day of competition. The finals for the two women's disciplines are set for Friday and Sunday, respectively.
Men's 1500m
China's Ren Ziwei is two-for-two in winning short track gold medals so far at the 2022 Winter Olympics.
He seized victories in the mixed team relay and men's 1000m events. The 24-year-old enters the 1500m competition as the 2021-2022 World Cup standings leader.
Ren won Monday's 1000m final after finishing the race second, but Hungary's Liu Shaolin received a yellow card and was disqualified. The Chinese skater also claimed first place in his semifinal after South Korea's Hwang Dae-Heon was penalized. Both Hwang and Liu are skating on Wednesday.
Canada's Charles Hamelin is the 2014 Winter Olympics gold medalist and, at 37, remains a contender. He won the 1500m discipline at the 2021 World Championships. No short track skater has ever won multiple 1500m Olympic gold medals.
South Koreans have captured three of the last four Olympic wins in the men's 1500m, and Park Jang-Hyuk is another strong contender after finishing third in the 2021-2022 World Cup season.
Americans Andrew Heo and Ryan Pivirotto will skate in the second and third quarterfinal races, respectively.
The last American to win a medal in the men's 1500m was Apolo Ohno, who took the silver in 2010.
The event will start with six quarterfinal races of six athletes each.
Women's 1000m
There are eight heats of four skaters in the 1000m, and 20 athletes advance.
Italy's Arianna Fontana, Dutch skater Suzanne Schulting and Canada's Kim Boutin finished first, second and third, respectively, in Monday's 500m final. That trio also stood on the podium at the 2018 Winter Olympics for the 1000m event.
Schulting is the defending gold medalist. She remained dominant in the discipline following her Olympic triumph, winning gold at the last two World Championships.
American Kristen Santos has emerged as a medal contender after finishing second behind Schulting in the 2021-2022 World Cup season.
The 27-year-old from Fairfield, Connecticut, became the first American since 2014 to win an individual gold medal at a World Cup event last year.
Maame Biney and Corinne Stoddard will also compete for the U.S.
Women's 3000m relay
Eight teams are racing in the women's 3000m relay semifinal, and four will advance to compete for medals.
The Netherlands, China, Italy and Poland will skate in the first semifinal. South Korea, Canada, the ROC and the U.S. make up the second group.
The Dutch own both the world and Olympic records but have not won an Olympic gold medal in the women's 3000m relay.
Schulting and Yara van Kerkhof return from the 2018 bronze medal-winning Dutch squad.
South Korea earned the gold medal in six of the last seven Winter Olympics, including 2018.
Canada has been a consistent contender having secured a medal seven times in eight Winter Olympic Games.
The Netherlands finished first in the 2021-2022 World Cup standings, while South Korea landed in second place.
The U.S. finished seventh in both the World Cup season and at the 2021 World Championships. Santos, Biney, Stoddard, Julie Letai and Eunice Lee make up the team. The Americans have not competed in the women's 3000m relay at the Olympics since 2010 when they won bronze medals.
WOMEN'S 3000m RELAY START LIST
Visit NBCOlympics.com for a full short track schedule.