Four short track skaters advance to quarterfinals as 2022 Beijing Olympic Winter Games events begin

Four United States short track skaters secured quarterfinal spots in the women’s 500m and the men’s 1000m events with a night of strong performances Saturday night at the Capitol Indoor Stadium.
Kristen Santos won her Women’s 500m heat with a time of 43.57 seconds. Maame Biney secured her place through skating to one of the four fastest third place times in the heats, clocking in at 42.919 seconds. Corinne Stoddard fell and did not advance.

On the men’s side, Andrew Heo and Ryan Pivirotto placed second in their respective heats in the 1000m and each secured a spot in the quarterfinals. 

“Personally, I just feel like it’s been a long time coming, something that I’ve been working a long time for. To be here, is very humbling, and I’m very blessed to be able to experience this,” Heo said. “Like I’ve been telling everyone, I have nothing to lose and everything to gain, and this is my mindset going forward.”

The quarterfinals for both the Women’s 500m and Men’s 1000m are scheduled for 7:30pm Beijing time on Monday, Feb. 7 and 6:30am EST/4:30am MST on Sunday. 
In the Olympic debut of the Mixed Relay event, the United States team advanced through their quarterfinal round before a semi-final referee decision disqualified them from advancing to the final round.

Mia Manganello Kilburg opened the United States’ long track speed skating events at the 2022 Beijing Olympic Winter Games Saturday with a 19th place finish in the Women’s 3000m.  
Manganello Kilburg finished with a time of 4:13.42. The Netherlands’ Irene Schouten set a new Olympic Record and won the Gold Medal with a time of 3:56.93, Italy’s Francesca Lollobrigida won the Silver Medal with a time of 3:58.06 and Canada’s Isabelle Weidemann won Bronze with a time of 3:58.64.  
Manganello Kilburg said she’s working to keep a training mindset with two events remaining ahead of her in Beijing.  

“Something I’ve learned in my experience of myself is I get better as I race and as I train. I’m trying to keep my head up and know that I get better with time,” Manganello Kilburg said. “To get the first one out of the way and to get the jitters out of my legs, I feel like with the 1500m in two days I’ll be able to settle in a little bit more. Then, I think that’ll be a great benefit and setup for the Mass Start.”  
The two-time Olympian previously won a Bronze Medal in the 2018 PyeongChang Olympic Winter Games in the Women’s Team Pursuit event alongside Heather Bergsma, Brittany Bowe and Carlijn Schoutens. 

Manganello Kilburg has a quick turnaround with the Women’s 1500m Monday before closing out her events with the Women’s Mass Start Feb. 19th.  

US Speedskating long track action continues Sunday in Beijing with the Men’s 5000m event at 4:30pm local time and 1:30 am MST/3:30am EST Saturday featuring Ethan Cepuran and Emery Lehman.  
Tune in to NBC and Peacock to catch all of the US Speedskating action throughout the Olympics.