Chaos struck the finals of the women's short track speed skating 500m on Thursday when all but one competitor fell down 20 seconds into the race.

China's Jianrou Li was the only skater to remain upright, which was enough for her to cruise to a gold medal.

The insanity of short track speed skating in one sequence...

Here's the crash (via BBC):

BBC

Going into an early turn, Li was in last place:

BBC

As she tried to make a pass, Elise Christie of Great Britain tripped, and took out Italian skater Arianna Fontana as she fell:

BBC

South Korea's Seunghi Park got clipped in the skate, and fell down herself:

BBC

Li passed everyone, and never looked back:

BBC

She was skating by herself, and won by a ridiculous margin of six seconds:

BBC

It's a weird way to win, but gold is gold:

BBC



NOW WATCH: Curling Finally Makes Sense