NIALL Treacy’s Winter Olympics medal bid ended in disappointment after he crashed out of the men’s 500m heats.
The Henley-in-Arden short track speed skater suffered a third crash in as many events at the Milano Cortina Games.
Treacy was Great Britain’s sole competitor in the sport across three disciplines – the 1000m, 1,500m and 500m.
The 25-year-old unexpectedly reached the final of the 1,500m event, only to crash when in the medal positions with five laps to go.
Treacy told BBC Sport: “The 500m isn’t my speciality. I was just proud I qualified for it.
“I just wanted to skate with a bit of freedom and a bit fun against some of the best skaters in the world.
“It’s super different [from the other events], there’s not as much tactics, it’s just go as fast as you can.
“I’ve got the World Championships in Montreal in a few weeks.
“Hopefully, through the off-season I can work on my speed a little bet better because that’s the thing that’s most inconsistent.
“I’m in a super good position physically. I’m really proud of what I did here, especially in the 1,500m.
“Hopefully, if I’ve inspired one or two people to start speed skating back home, that will be job done for me.
“Hopefully, in four years time we have a few people here [at the Olympics].”
Treacy collided with South Korea’s Rim Jong-un on the opening corner of the 500m heats which forced a restart.
However, Treacy suffered another fall as he attempted to close the gap to the three athletes ahead of him with two laps to go.
That came after he reached the final of the 1,500m event only to receive a penalty when already out of medal contention.
The GB athlete found himself in the medal positions with five laps to go only to collide with China’s Sun Long which forced both skaters off the track.
He recovered to finish sixth in his first Olympic final only for a video review to determine Treacy was responsible for the incident.
This saw Treacy demoted to ninth place after officials deemed the Henley-in-Arden athlete to have changed lanes from inside to out on the straight.
