Team GB speed skater Niall Treacy dropped from sixth to ninth in the short track 1500m final after being penalised for a collision that took him and two other competitors down
Niall Treacy, Shaoang Liu and Shin Dong Min all went down on the ice(Image: Getty)
Team GB speed skater Niall Treacy finished sixth in the short track men’s 1500m final before being demoted to ninth place following a collision which took out two other competitors as well as himself.
The referee’s decision to penalise Treacy meant he dropped positions in Saturday’s expanded final, which included two extra athletes due to crashes in the semi-finals.
Treacy crossed the finish line nearly 40 seconds ahead of seventh-placed Shoaong Liu of China, who was involved in the collision with him. Another Chinese competitor, Long Sun, didn’t finish due to injury.
The gold medal went to Jens van ‘T Wout of the Netherlands, continuing their dominance in the sport, with Korea’s Hwang Daehoen and Latvia’s Roberts Kruzbergs rounding off the podium.
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Former Team GB skater Wilf O’Reilly had high hopes for Treacy, commenting on the BBC’s coverage: “The winner of this race was always going to be the person who could stay out of trouble, but unfortunately, Niall Treacy had a collision. That is disappointing for him because he was skating so well – I was really expecting him to get on the podium.”
Treacy remained composed afterwards as he explained the incident that denied him a shot at a medal, simply stating he hadn’t seen those behind him due to his concentration on maintaining pace with the leaders. He had led the race at one point after sweeping around the outside, just as he did when winning the third semi-final, but went third before falling.
An extensive review followed the race, with the decision to disqualify Treacy leaving Team GB supporters furious on social media.
Speaking to TNT Sports, the Brit said: “It’s not the result that you want when you go to the final. I was skating really well, and I’ve only seen the review quickly, but I didn’t see the guy; I felt like I was still trying to build speed, I had got two of the best guys in front of me, so I was actually trying to set up to go back past them because I felt like I was in a really good position from today, I feel really strong.
“If you told me at the start of the day, ‘you’re gonna be in an Olympic Game final,’ maybe I wouldn’t have believed you, so yeah, it’s not the result, but I’m really proud of what I did today, hopefully, the guys back home in the sport, and the people watching were proud because, yeah, I had fun today.”
