Kim Boutin suffers heartbreaking first-place fall near Olympic finish line (VIDEO)
Short track speed skating might be the cruelest of all Winter Olympic sports.
With skaters flying around the ice at high speeds, jockeying for position with opponents, crashes are inevitable. Disqualifications happen with regularity.
And other times, the ice just sucks.
That appears to be what happened to Canada’s Kim Boutin this morning in her 1,000-metre heat. Needing to just finish first or second among the four skaters to advance, the four-time Olympic medalist was in a comfortable position.
She had been in the lead for a majority of the race, including three straight laps, and had a comfortable lead heading into the last turn. Boutin was a medal contender, as the 27-year-old won silver in this event four years ago.
All that was left was for the Sherbrooke, Quebec native to cruise through to the finish line and into the quarterfinal.
But agonizingly close to the finish line, Boutin fell. She wasn’t bumped or pushed. Instead, it appeared that she caught a rut in the ice. All three competitors passed Boutin, finishing ahead of her.
Heartbreak for Kim Boutin 💔
The Canadian falls just before the finish line in her 1000m heat after leading most of the race pic.twitter.com/vqhJ8deI1t
— CBC Olympics (@CBCOlympics) February 9, 2022
Luckily for Boutin, athletes are able to compete in more than one event in short track. She already has an Olympic bronze medal in the 500-metre race in Beijing and helped Canada qualify for the 3,000-metre relay after her fall.
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