SHORT TRACKING SKATING: He's known as a speed demon and Brendan Corey certainly lived up to it, dominating the first heat of the men's 1000m short track race to finish second and claim an automatic qualification to the quarter-finals on Monday.
The 25-year-old set a blistering pace to finish in a time of 1:23.908, smashing Australian records.
“I was happy with that, yeah, it was great,” Brendan said.
The Aussie skater looked comfortable from the outset, sitting in second place behind Hungary’s Shaoang Liu for most of the race. However, just moments before he could cross the finish line, he was arm-blocked by another competitor.
And now we wait... ⏰
— 7Olympics (@7olympics) February 5, 2022
Brendan Corey finished third in his heat which means he will have to wait to see if his time qualifies!#Beijing2022 | #7Olympics pic.twitter.com/p2x78RGMlj
“I was following the Hungarian and then the Italian (Luca Spechenhauser) around the outside and I got boxed in. There was really no place to go.”
The Italian was penalised and Brendan was awarded second place.
He now has tomorrow off before returning to the ice on Monday for the quarter-finals.
Brendan is the first Australian to compete in this event since Vancouver 2010 and hopes to help raise the profile of the sport so others can follow in his fast footsteps.
“Joining the Australian program has lifted me up to another level,” the Canadian-born Aussie said.
“Australia has given me the chance to prove myself at the international level and that’s all I ever wanted. Now I’m here at the Olympics and I couldn’t be more proud.”
Katherine Firkin
#HaveAGo
Short Track Speed Skating
WHAT DO I NEED?
Long sleeves, long pants, full finger gloves and a hard shell bike helmet
WHAT IF I DON’T HAVE MY OWN SKATES?
No problem, speed skates will be provided by our speed skating clubs
HOW DO I GET STARTED?
Contact any one of our clubs in Sydney, Melbourne, Perth or Brisbane and attend a “Come and Try” session
