PH BET. Filipino-American speed skater Peter Groseclose competes in the Men's 1,500-meter event of the 4th Winter Youth Olympic Games at Gangneung Ice Arena in Gangwon, South Korea on Saturday (Jan. 20, 2024). He reached as far as the quarterfinals, his same finish in the Men's 1,000m on Sunday. (Photo courtesy of @championiceskating)
MANILA – Filipino-American short track speed skater Peter Groseclose failed to reach the semifinals of the Men’s 1,000-meter event in the 4th Winter Youth Olympics at Gangneung Ice Arena in Gangwon Province, South Korea on Sunday.
The 16-year-old Groseclose, who is based in Oakton, Virginia, ranked fourth in quarterfinal 1 with a time of one minute and 28.889.
Xinzhe Zhang of China eventually won in 1:26.257.
Turkey’s Muhammed Bozdag (1:26.349) took the silver medal and Japan’s Raito Kida (1:26.478) settled for the bronze.
“Peter was just on the outside of the pack for a little too long. In short track, you want to minimize your stay outside the pack because you’re skipping the longer distance and putting more effort just to stay with the group. That led to the result,” explained John-Henry Krueger, the two-time Winter Olympics medalist who is coaching Groseclose.
“Today was a move going to the right direction. However, I think it could have been a much larger gap between what happened yesterday, so we just have to prepare and talk about the tomorrow’s event,” he added, referring to Groseclose's 500-m race on Monday.
Krueger said the 500m race is less strategic and more of a physical race “because you are using your raw power. That’s his best distance."
Groseclose also reached the quarterfinal stage in Saturday’s 1,500m, finishing sixth in his group (2:20.575).
Freestyle skier Laetaz Amihan Rabe, 14, and Canada-based cross-country skier Avery Uriel Balbanida, 16, are the other Filipinos competing in Korea.
Rabe, who resides in Switzerland, carried the Philippine flag during the opening ceremony on Friday.
Ada Milby serves as chef de mission of Team Philippines. She is accompanied by Philippine Skating Union president Nikki Cheng and Philippine Ski and Snowboard Federation secretary general Jezreel Apelar.
First in Asia
Gangwon Province is the first Asian host of the quadrennial youth winter sports event, following Innsbruck of Austria, Lillehammer of Norway and Lausanne of Switzerland.
The competition for athletes aged 15 to 18 years will be until Feb. 1.
Yonhap news agency said it is the largest Winter Youth Olympics ever with 1,803 athletes from 79 countries competing in 81 events across seven sports and 15 disciplines.
South Korea has the largest delegation with 102 athletes. (With a report from Yonhap/PNA)
