China won its first gold medals of the Sochi Olympics on Thursday night, extending to a dozen years its dominance of the women's 500-meter short-track skating event and also reaching into the unfamiliar realm of 1,000-meters speed skating.

Zhang Hong's medal in the ladies' 1,000 meters was the more surprising win, as China had never won a gold in the event. The 25-year-old from Heilongjiang also hasn't got on the podium at World Single Distances Championships, finishing seventh in the flagship speed-skating competition in 2011, 2012 and 2013.

But she produced a stunning race in Sochi's Adler Arena, finishing in 1 minute, 14.02 seconds, a healthy 0.67 seconds ahead of silver medalist Ireen Wust, a world champion skater and now five-time Olympic medalist from the Netherlands. Another Dutchwoman, Margot Boer, was third.

The Dutch have long been a leading force in this event, along with the Germans and North Americans. The last time a Chinese woman won an Olympic medal in the 1,000 meters was in 1994, when Ye Qiaobo won bronze in Lillehammer, Norway. Her time was 1 minute, 20.22 seconds.

Zhang had to endure a long wait Thursday night as one of the earlier racers, setting off in the seventh pairing out of 18 with Christine Nesbitt of Canada, the gold medalist from the 2010 Games in Vancouver. All Zhang, dressed in the yellow tracksuit of China, could do was nervously watch as subsequent races came and went.