Winter Olympics 2026: Niall Treacy crashes and women win

Team GB’s Niall Tracy suffered his third crash in as many short track speed skating events as the Winter Olympics ended when he failed to advance from the 500m heats.

Tracy, Britain’s only short track representative, surprisingly reached the 1,500m final on Saturday but fell and then also fell in the 1,000m heats.

The 25-year-old says that the shortest distance is his least favorite, declaring that he is “not a natural runner.”

Tracy got off to a shaky start when he was beaten in the opening corner by South Korea’s Rim Jong-un – an 18-year-old high school student who won bronze in the 1,000 meters – to require a restart.

But there was no delay for Tracy, as he slid midway through the entire race under any pressure.

It ends British interest in short track, the sport having suffered since losing £4.8m in UK sport funding after failing to win a medal at Pyeongchang 2018.

Team GB sent a team of five to take part in the short track events eight years ago – but that number is limited to one team in Milan.

Dutchman Jens Van’t Voot, who has already won the 1,000 meters and 1,500 meters, remains in the hunt for a triple gold after avoiding a mass pile-up to win the heats.

The rest of the 500 meters competitions, with two other knockout rounds before the final, will be held on Tuesday.