SPEED SKATING: Every athlete experiences highs and lows in their careers and Daniel Greig felt the heartbreak of Olympic competition on Monday night.

But with every Olympic heartbreak comes a silver lining, and for Greig that was seeing his best friend and training partner, Michel Mulder win gold.

The tiniest error in the opening strides of Greig’s first 500m Speed Skating race saw the 22-year-old lose his footing and fall to the ice.

“I felt the blade come into the ice and I thought I could save it so I decided to keep trying to push it through but it just resulted in me going down faster,” Greig said.

“As I was on the ice I knew immediately what it meant...I knew it was a huge blow to the start of my Olympics. But at the same time you can always look at these things as opportunities.”

Despite the hours, days, months and years that have gone into his preparation, in such a precision sport, a split second can change the outcome of the whole race.

“It wasn’t even a scenario I contemplated. It never crossed my mind even in the weeks or days before, that scenario never crossed my mind. I almost didn’t believe it.”

Greig said the crash was an unforced error that could have happened in any race, but he’ll be using it to spur him on to bigger and better things.

“I’ve never had problems dealing with the pressure of big competitions before. This particular time, nothing felt strange in my preparation. I was just as focused as I was at the World Championships a couple of weeks ago. It was just an unforced error that resulted in me ending up on the ground.

“This is possibly the hardest thing that any skater can imagine happening to them especially in the sprint distances, so I know if I can get through this and out the other side with my determination in tact then I can manage to put a good race down in the 1000 and that’s going to make me a much better athlete overall.”

Despite his devastation, Greig showed his courage, determination and Australian spirit and got back to his feet to finish the race and regain his composure for the second of the two races.

He said afterwards that not finishing was not an option.

“Never! No way. I was always going to finish the race. Just if you have a mistake, if you decide to pull out, it is a disrespect to your other competitors. Because they are in the race and the race is all about staying on your feet too. So if no one finishes the race when something doesn’t go right, there wouldn’t be anyone left.”

Greig was in the second pair to race, up against Havard Lorentzen of Norway. The race was never going to be easy, Greig referring to his 35.29 second time as “sub-par.”

“My start I was going at about 90 per cent,” he said. “There is no way you can trust yourself completely after a crash and the last thing I wanted was to fall again.”

The event ended in total Dutch domination, with Michel Mulder winning gold in 69.312. Racing in the last pairing, it looked as though his compatriot Jan Smeekens might have got the edge, but he was forced to settle for silver on an overall time of 69.324. Mulder’s twin brother Ronald took bronze in 69.46. 

For Greig, Mulder winning gold was almost as good as if he had won it himself. 

“He knew I was a threat coming into this competition, but we also discussed that if anyone was going to get a medal at this Olympics, it would be him. So I am certainly not in the running anymore, so I just want it to be him.” 

Greig was the first person to congratulate Mulder, almost throwing himself on to the ice to give his mate a hug. 

The Games are far from over for Greig, with the young Victorian racing the 1000m on Day 5 (Wednesday 12 February). And as one of the youngest and least experienced racers at the Games, his future in Olympic Speed Skating is strong. 

“The only way to approach the rest of this is to prepare the way I have been preparing for the last four years. There is no reason to change that now.”