Day 12 of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics

Sweden beat reigning world champion Canada 2-0 in a hard-fought match to book its place in the men's ice hockey semifinals.

A Canadian error allowed Lucas Wallmark to finally get the breakthrough with just eight minutes of the match remaining, before Anton Lander sealed the win with a goal into an open net after Canada had pulled its goalkeeper for an extra outfield player as it went in search of an equalizer.

Sweden will now play the Russian Olympic Committee in the semifinal as it goes in search of a first Winter Olympic gold medal since Turin 2006.

Slovakia, who earlier stunned the USA, will face Finland in the other semifinal.

After their podium finish at the men's 5000m relay final, winners from Canada, South Korea and Italy take a group selfie with their pandas after the flower ceremony at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games at Capital Indoor Stadium.

The Beijing Olympic mascot is a playful panda wearing an icy shell. It had been a crowd favorite at the Winter Games — until it started talking.

Team USA was stunned by Slovakia 3-2 in the men's ice hockey quarterfinals at Beijing 2022 on Wednesday.

Slovakia, bidding for its first Olympic medal in the event, advanced to the last four after winning a nail-biting shootout in a dramatic conclusion to the game.

With the game tied 2-2 after overtime, Peter Cehlarik was the only man to convert his effort as Slovakia goalie Patrik Rybar stopped all five of Team USA's shots.

Though the US will be frustrated that they weren't able to see the game out, they remained proud of what the young team achieved — many of the athletes representing the US are still playing college ice hockey.

"Hockey is a game of inches," said Team USA's Steven Kampfer. "They (Slovakia) played well, they stuck to their identity, and when it comes to a shootout there isn't really that much you can do."

It came down to the wire, but in the end, South Korea's Choi Min-jeong held off her closest rivals to win gold in the women's 1500m speed skating final.

The defending champion — who had set a new Olympic record in the discipline in a semifinal earlier in the day — finished just milliseconds ahead of Italy's Arianna Fontana and the Netherlands' Suzanne Schulting.

Finishing with a time of 2:17.81, Choi won her third medal of Beijing 2022 and her third gold medal of her Olympic career.

It required a photo finish to separate Fontana and Schulting, but Fontana just about held on to silver, the 31-year-old's 11th Olympic medal.

Fontana, the most decorated short track speed skater in Olympic history, becomes Italy's most decorated Winter Olympian with her silver medal.

For Schulting, her bronze medal was the end of her quest for the women's speed skating gold medal hat-trick, after gold's in the women's 1000m and the women's 3000m relay.

Charles Hamelin's glittering career had a fairytale ending as the veteran speed skater helped Canada win gold in the men's short track speed skating 5,000m relay.

The 37-year-old, who is competing at his fifth Winter Games, said in the build up to these Olympics that he plans to retire after Beijing 2022.

This win gives Hamelin his fourth career Winter Olympics gold medal and sixth overall, having also won a silver and bronze.

Alongside Hamelin were Jordan Pierre-Gilles, Steven Dubois and Pascal Dion, who held off South Korea in second place.

There was a photo finish for bronze, with Italy pipping the Russian Olympic Committee on the line.

Qi Guangpu took home the gold medal for host country China in the men's freestyle aerials final, emulating the success of compatriot Xu Mengtao who won gold in the women's event.

The visibly emotional Guangpu was in a league of his own, posting a huge final score of 129.00 that wasn't even close to being challenged.

Ukraine's Oleksandr Abramenko, gold medalist four years ago in PyeongChang, took the silver with a score of 116.50.

The Russian Olympic Committee's Ilia Burov took home the bronze with a final jump of 114.93 to add to his bronze from PyeongChang.

Belgian Alpine skier Dries Van Den Broecke only thought of his brother and father when he crashed out of the men’s giant slalom event, thinking he may need medical help.

And help would not have been too far since his father and brother are two of the 12 foreign doctors on site at the National Alpine Skiing Centre, helping the local medical team ensure any on-course injuries are attended to as quickly as possible.  

Having his family close is of great comfort to the skier, who is also competing in the slalom on Wednesday. Van Den Broecke, who put Belgium on the Alpine map by taking slalom silver at the 2012 Youth Olympic Games, says he is not the star in the family.

“It’s not me as the star,” he said. “All the doctors here know them pretty well so when I pass by they go, ’Oh, you are from Belgium, you know Robin, you know Robin?’”

His brother, a trauma specialist, but also a former junior world championship skier, has already had to put his skills to use, working with Swiss skier Yannick CHABLOZ, who broke his forearm and shoulder blade during the downhill portion of the Alpine combined. 

Wouter, a member of the International Ski Federation (FIS) medical commission, is naturally a proud father. 

Finland comfortably eased past Switzerland 5-1 to reach the semifinals of the men's ice hockey competition.

They join the Russian Olympic Committee and Slovakia, who stunned the USA on penalties earlier on Wednesday, in the final four.

Sweden and Canada face off later this afternoon for the fourth semifinal berth.

After a tense finish in the women's event, there was no such drama in the final straight of the men's team sprint classic as Norway's Johannes Høsflot Klæbo powered away from the field to finish more than 15 meters clear of his nearest rival.

It's a remarkable fifth Winter Olympics gold medal for Klæbo -- his second of Beijing 2022 -- who, at just 25 years of age, is already considered one of the greatest cross-country sprint skiers of all time.

Teammate Erik Valnes was there to greet Klæbo as he crossed the finish line to clinch Norway's 13th gold of these Games.

Finland finished a distant second to take the silver medal, with the Russian Olympic Committee taking bronze.