‘I messed it up’: Speed skater Corey eliminated after tactical blunder

3 days ago 2

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Milan: A frank and devastated Brendan Corey says he “messed up” his first heat of the Olympics, in which he finished fourth and was eliminated from the 1000m short track speed skate event.

While the Australian still has his pet event – the 1500m short track sprint – ahead of him, he did not conceal his intense disappointment with his race, in which he sat third until the final lap and finished fourth. The first three go through to the quarter-finals.

“Not good,” said Corey, moments after a heat in which he trailed his training partners Pietro Sighel (Italy) and Quentin Fercog (France).

“Yeah I messed it up. I needed to move up earlier, and I waited too long, in third.”

Corey’s disappointment was raw, and he felt he had let down his parents, who had travelled from Canada to watch him, the first time they had seen him live at the Olympics (he competed in Beijing in 2022).

“I’m happy they came all this way to support me. I feel like I let them down a little bit in that race.”

Australian Brendan Corey fights it out for third position.

Corey drew a tough heat, where he had the unusual situation of racing the Italian and French opponents that he trains with on a near-daily basis in Italy.

Corey, a bronze medallist in the 2024 World Championships in Rotterdam in the 1500m, took full responsibility for a tactical blunder.

“Yeah, I needed to be second or first, earlier in the race. So it’s my fault, basically. I need to put this behind me and focus on what I have to do for the next race,” he said.

Italy’s Pietro Sighel leads the pack in Brendan Corey’s race.

Corey’s presence at this Olympics follows a terrifying accident in which he had his throat cut by a competitor’s blade at the World Championships last year.

Corey opted to race in the 1000m – the event Australian Steven Bradbury won in unimaginable circumstances in 2002 – even though his best chance appears to be over a longer distance.

Asked if he took solace in having his preferred event ahead, he said: “Yeah, I’m hoping that the 1500m will be better. I felt like I had a good chance in that one, before I started this. Yeah, I’m not happy at all.”