REDDITCH Winter Olympian Charlotte Gilmartin will be aiming for better fortunes when she competes in her second short track speed skating event of the Pyeongchang Games.
The 27-year-old races in Saturday’s women’s 1,500m in South Korea, aiming to improve on her efforts of the previous weekend when she was disqualified from the 500m in her attempt to qualify for the quarter-finals.
Gilmartin was involved in a three-skater collision in the Gangneung Ice Arena and, although she eventually crossed the line, she was later disqualified having been deemed to have caused the crash.
Gilmartin, who picked up the penalty after tangling at a corner with Emina Malagich, an Olympic Athlete from Russia, said: “I’m devastated with that, I thought I was fast enough.
“I waited to make my move and I thought I’d be fine and it didn’t work out that way. It’s always hard to call but you can’t change the referee’s decision – you have to respect that.
“I’m going good, I’ve got speed and I’m ready to go again. I won’t change the way I skate for the 1,500m.
“Up until the crash I was feeling great, I had good speed. There’s no injury problems, I’ve got a bit of a bruised rib but my legs are fine and nothing can stop me. I’m ready to race.
“It’s not how I’d hoped my first race would go, but I felt great until this point so I’m keen to be back in the action.”
Gilmartin, the 2017 British champion at 500m, 1,000m and 1,500m and second overall at the 2016 European Championships, will be back on the ice from 10am on Saturday, along with her Great Britain team-mate and medal hope Elise Christie.
The world champion Scot, also 27, suffered more Olympic heartache on Tuesday when she crashed in the 500m final and had to settle for fourth place.
Like Gilmartin, though, Christie favours the two longer distances and the reigning 1,000m, 1,500m and overall World Champion remains upbeat as she bids to erase the memories of Sochi 2014 when she was disqualified from all three events.
The women’s 1,000m competition takes place on Tuesday.
