Argy-bargy on ice leaves Borodulina out of finals

In her first Olympic competition in the green and gold, Russian-born short track speed skater Tatiana Borodulina has narrowly missed out on finals progression in the women’s 500 metres event.

Despite drawing a favourable heat positioned in lane one without any of the formidable Korean or Chinese racers beside her, Borodulina was unable to finish in the top two over the line, ruling her out of any finals racing.

“I felt really good all day and during the warm up,” Borodulina said. “I don’t know what happened.”

Borodulina skated in the second heat of the night at Vancouver’s Pacific Coliseum and the race was marred by two false starts.

“Tatiana was very tense before the race,” her coach Ann Zhang said. “It is no excuse but the false starts definitely did not help. She just wanted to get out there and race.”

The four racers got off to a clean start the third time round with Borodulina off the mark from the beginning.

Regaining speed and control around the first bend, it appeared that the 25-year-old from Brisbane was back in the race. Argy-bargy in the second half of the short sprint edged Borodulina back however, and she crossed the line third in a time of 44.901 seconds.

The roar of the local crowd filled the icy stadium as Canadian Marianne St-Gelais qualified in first spot. Just moments later, event favourite Wang Meng of China, not only took out her heat but secured a new Olympic record on the way with a time of 43.926.

“Starting with the 500m event is very hard,” Zhang said after the race.

“It would have been better to start with the 1500 so she could work into her race.”

Borodulina now has a week to prepare for the 1500, taking place on Day 9 (Saturday 20 February – Vancouver time).

Despite the early disappointment for Borodulina, she remains positive and determined for her coming events.

“When I’m on the ice, all I think about is how to race not about how hard it was.”

Alice Wheeler
AOC - Vancouver

Article courtesy of www.olympics.com.au