(Olympics) S. Korea's Choi Min-jeong finishes fourth in women's 1,000m short track

By Yoo Ji-ho, Kim Boram and Kang Yoon-seung

GANGNEUNG, South Korea, Feb. 22 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's Choi Min-jeong finished fourth in the PyeongChang Winter Olympics women's 1,000 meter short track speed skating on Thursday, after a collision with her teammate, Shim Suk-hee.

In the event's final at the Gangneung Ice Arena, Choi crossed the finish line after the Netherlands' Suzanne Schulting, Canada's Kim Boutin and Italy's Arianna Fontana. Shim was disqualified for a penalty.

Choi skated in the tail of the five-woman pack throughout the nine-lap race and tried to pass the competitors outside in the ninth lap. In the second corner of the final lap, she and Shim, who was in the third place, bumped each other and fell together.

It took a while for the two to stand up and skate again. Shim finished the race in a time of 1:39.126 and Choi in 1:42.434, some 10 seconds behind the bronze medalist Fontana. The referees disqualified Shim for impeding Choi.

Due to the collision, South Korea failed to defend the women's 1,000m title at the home Olympics, and Choi, who took two golds in the 1,500m and 3,000m relay, lost her dream to become the first female skater to have three gold medals in a single Olympics in 12 years.

Only South Korean Jin Sun-yu completed the treble at Torin 2006.

For Shim, she missed the final chance to win a medal in an individual race in her second Olympics. She won gold at the women's 3,000m relay with Choi.

"We overlapped and collided in the last spurt. I'm very sorry for that," said Shim. "And I'm really worried about whether she's hurt. She said she's OK, but I'm still worried."

brk@yna.co.kr
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