In the final, the Netherlands, Canada, South Korea, and hosts Italy fought out a long and tactical battle for the second-to-last gold medal of the Olympic short-track tournament.
The Netherlands, led by two-time Olympic champion Jens van 't Wout, first took the lead from Canada and Olympic champion Steven Dubois, who beat Jens and Melle van 't Wout in the final of the 500m. A slight mistake saw Canada fall down the field and struggle to improve on their position, while South Korea put the Dutch under big pressure.
The Netherlands retook the lead with 7 laps to go via Melle van 't Wout and not give it away, earning them their astonishing fifth short-track gold medal of these Olympics with a team made from Jens and Melle van 't Wout, Friso Emons, and Teun Boer. The Dutch quartet raced the Netherlands to its first-ever gold medal in the Olympic relay.
South Korea, which put the Dutch under immense pressure, took silver, while Italy took bronze.
Semifinals
A spectacular first semifinal saw Hungary exit the competition early after a fall, and all three pushing skaters from Canada, Italy, and China fell; the fall was subject to review but left no team with a penalty.
Italy's Pietro Sighel bridged a big gap to the leaders, Canada and China, in the final laps after first having surprised Canada's William Dandjinou twice to sneak into the top two spots. Sighel took China's spot to book Italy a ticket for Wednesday's final.
The Netherlands survived two scares in the second semifinal after Itzhak de Laat was overtaken twice after an exchange, but was redeemed by Friso Emons and two-time gold medallist Jens van 't Wout, who saved his country a spot in the final alongside South Korea. Belgium and Japan were eliminated, with the latter's 28-year wait for a short-track medal continuing.