Team GB star punished as Winter Olympics change result of medal final

Speed skater Niall Treacy was penalised for a collision in the short track 1500m final at the Milan Winter Olympics, dropping from sixth to ninth place after a lengthy review by officials

Team GB’s speed skater Niall Treacy crossed the line sixth in Saturday’s short track men’s 1500m final, but was subsequently penalised for a collision that brought him and two other skaters crashing down. The referee’s ruling saw Treacy relegated to ninth place in an expanded final that included two extra athletes following earlier semi-final incidents.

The British competitor finished nearly 40 seconds clear of seventh-placed Shaorong Liu of China, one of the skaters involved in the collision, whilst another Chinese athlete, Long Sun, was unable to complete the race due to injury and required help leaving the ice. Gold went to the Netherlands’ Jens van ‘t Wout in a discipline where the Dutch continue their dominance, with South Korea’s Hwang Daeheon and Latvia’s Roberts Kruzbergs claiming silver and bronze respectively.

Former Team GB skater Wilf O’Reilly had high hopes for Treacy ahead of the race. Speaking on BBC coverage, he commented: “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.”

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Treacy remained composed as he reflected on the incident that denied him a shot at a medal, explaining simply that his focus on maintaining pace with the leaders meant he hadn’t spotted those behind him.

He had briefly taken the lead after sweeping around the outside—a move that secured his victory in the third semi-final—but slipped back to third before tumbling on the ice, reports the Express.

Following the race, officials conducted an extensive review before deciding to disqualify Treacy, a decision that sparked fury among Team GB supporters across social media.

In his interview with TNT Sports, the British skater 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.”

Treacy added: “Every race that you come into at an Olympics is absolutely solid, the fields right now are just so strong. We’re coming into each race, and we go ‘right, top two it doesn’t matter what it is, it’s top two, so just get top two.’

“So the quarter-finals felt like a final for me, the semi-finals felt like a final, so that’s why I was just over the moon.

“All my family are here, so to have it with them is just, yeah, it was just amazing. It would’ve been nice to finish it off, but I’m proud of what I did.”

He also urged for greater backing from those in authority after being the sole short-track speed skater representing Team GB at these Games. Treacy said: “From a short track speed skating point in the UK I would love if we could have a bit more support from a higher up level.

“I think four years ago we got to a final, here we got to a final, we can prove that with the limited resources that we’ve got, we’re competing against these teams, the best teams in the world, and I think it’s just a testament that we have so much talent in the UK, and I think we need to capitalise on that a little bit better than what we are doing, so that’s why it was maybe a little bit difficult coming out here by myself.”

Treacy concluded: “It’s not bad from skating in Solihull to skating in Milan.”