PH's Groseclose stumbles in 500m finals to close out Winter Youth Olympics campaign

Young short track speed skater Peter Groseclose made his first-ever finals appearance, but crashed out during the men's 500m finals to end his 2024 Gangwon Winter Youth Olympics campaign on Monday in South Korea.

During the fifth and final lap, the Filipino-American bet was coming in third behind USA's Sean Boxiong Shuai and China's Zhang Bohao. But Groseclose and Bohao both stumbled in the 40-second mark before the Philippine representative slipped onto the barriers.

Groseclose was penalized and wasn't able to clock in, bidding his medal hopes goodbye.

In the end, Shuai clinched the gold medal after finishing with 41.498 seconds while China's Zhang Xinzhe (41.755) and Hungary's Dominik Gergely Major (41.969) claimed the silver and bronze medal, respectively.

This was the closest Groseclose had gotten to a possible podium finish as he bowed out in the quarterfinals stages in the men's 1500m and men's 1000m categories.

Groseclose, one of the three Filipinos representing the country in the Games, managed to enter the finals after a dominant showing in the first races.

He topped the Heat 5 after clocking in 42.019 seconds, edging athletes from Turkey, Bulgaria, and Netherlands before again ruling the quarterfinals with a 41.329 output. In the semifinals, Groseclose earned a finals ticket following a finish of 41.697 seconds.

But Groseclose could not capitalize on the momentum as he stumbled late. Still, it was a great run for the young ace as he finished within the top five---the highest ever for the Philippines in a Winter Olympic event.

—Bea Micaller/JMB, GMA Integrated News