BEIJING β A penalty for pushing cost Canada a medal in the mixed short-track speedskating relay final on Saturday at the Winter Olympics.
Host China claimed its first gold at the Games with a winning time of 2:37.34 ahead of Italy, which took silver in 2:37.36.
Florence Brunelle crashed and took Hungary's Zsofia Konya down with her on the 10th lap of the 18-lap relay. Canada, which finished first in its semifinal, was penalized for the contact and relegated to a disappointing sixth-place finish.
"She wanted to do an inside overtake and she caught the blade of the other skater in front, which caused the two to fall,β explained Brunelle's teammate Kim Boutin.
Brunelle, the youngest Olympian in Canadian short-track history at 18, rushed through the mixed zone and would not comment on the race.
Boutin, one of three members of the Canadian short-track team with Olympic experience, was the only team member to meet the journalists.
βI know Florence, she is angry with herself," said Boutin. "It is our role to support her in this. Everyone can make a mistake."
The collision set the stage for China to build a big lead over Italy going into the latter stages of the race. But the Italians rallied, careening around the rink in hot pursuit of the home team.Β
In the end, China's Wu Dajing edged Pietro Sighel of Italy by .016 seconds β or half a skate blade β to claim gold.Β
"Every day when we finish training, we have blood in our throats. And the moment we won, I thought it was all worth it. Weβve made it," Chinese skater Fan Kexin said following her team's gold-medal win.
Hungary was awarded bronze while the Canadian team of Brunelle, Boutin, Steven Dubois and Jordan Pierre-Gilles, which had finished first in its semifinal, tumbled off the podium into sixth place overall.
Despite finishing fourth in the A final, the penalty dropped Canada behind the Netherlands and Kazakhstan, who finished 1-2 in the event's B final.
Earlier in the evening, Brunelle, Boutin and Alyson Charles qualified for the women's 500 final, while Pierre-Gilles and Pascal Dion did the same in the men's 1000.
The finals will be held on Monday.
β With files from Alexis BΓ©langer-Champagne and The Associated Press.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 5, 2022.Β
The Canadian Press
Note to readers: Clarifies that Canada finished sixth overall in event
