Wipe-out ends Choi's rollercoaster Olympics
Choi Min-jeong's bid for an Olympic short track treble ended in a wipe-out with fellow South Korean Shim Suk-hee on Thursday. The winner of the women's 1,500m and 3,000m relay clipped the blades of Shim in the final lap of the 1,000m, sending both skaters hurtling into the side padding. That left Suzanne Schulting of the Netherlands to claim gold, with Canada's Kim Boutin taking silver and Arianna Fontana of Italy the bronze. The 19-year-old Choi was heralded as the 2018 Winter Games' hosts golden girl, but she has experienced a rollercoaster ride at the Gangneung Ice Arena. Her hopes of four golds were dashed from the start when she was disqualified from her opening 500m race. But Choi got off the mark when she won the 1,500m, and then led South Korea to 3,000m relay success. She only made Thursday's final through the back door, when a penalty to one of her rivals earned her a pass to the decider. Starting on the outside she was always up against it, and she ended her race -- and her Olympics -- unceremoniously on her backside. For Boutin, this was another step up the podium in Pyeongchang after filling bronze in both the 500m and 1,500m. She received abuse from Korean trolls on social media over Choi's disqualification in the 500m. Schulting was part of the Dutch relay team that set a new world record on Tuesday in the 'B' final on their way to bronze behind Korea and Italy. Fontana, 27, added silver to the gold she won in the 500m and relay to swell her Olympic medal haul to eight.
