Federal Way short track speedskaters J.R. Celski and Aaron Tran fell short of competing for a medal in their first competition of the 2018 Winter Olympics.
Celski, Tran, and fellow American John Henry Krueger did not advance to the gold medal final.
Celski finished third in his preliminary heat to advance to the semifinals. He led for much of the first semifinal, but faded in the final three laps and ended up in falling well off the pace to finish last and missing the gold medal final.
It ultimately did not matter where he placed, though. Early in the race, he made contact with Canada's Sam Gerard, causing Gerard to crash. Officials reviewed video. They disqualified Celski and allowed Gerard to advance.
Tran also made it past the preliminaries but finished fourth in the second semifinal. Only the top two skaters automatically advance to the gold medal final.
Krueger was in the same semifinal as Tran, but he was disqualified.
Lim Hyo-Jun of Korea took the gold. Sjinkie Knegt of the Netherlands took the silver and Russian athlete Semen Elistratov took bronze.
Celski still has the 1,000 meters while Tran will compete in the 500 meters. They also have the 5,000-meter team relay.
