Krueger wins one, then loses another to officials’ decision in Olympic debut
Associated Press
Peters Township native John-Henry Krueger reacts after being disqualified in the men’s 1500-meter, short-track speedskating semifinal in Gangneung Ice Arena at the Winter Olympics in South Korea.
Associated Press
Peters Township native John-Henry Krueger reacts after winning his men’s 1500 meters short-track speedskating heat in the Gangneung Ice Arena Saturday at the Winter Olympics in Gangneung, South Korea.
Associated Press
Peters Township native John-Henry Krueger skates during the men’s 1500-meter, short-track speedskating event in Gangneung Ice Arena at the Winter Olympics in South Korea.
GANGNEUNG, South Korea – John-Henry Krueger, the 22-year-old Peters Township native who is competing in several short track speedskating events at the Olympics, has competed in South Korea dozens of times, against the world’s top skaters, in various World Cup events. He wasn’t bothered by the Olympic setting and entered his debut at the Games comfortable and confident.
And Krueger’s Olympics could not have had a better start to the 1,500 meters Saturday at Gangneung Ice Arena, but the way the night ended was certainly frustrating.
Krueger, who won 1,500 at the Olympic trials last month, started well as he won his first-round heat. In the semifinal, there was some controversy as Krueger was disqualified for impeding.
Krueger said he felt like he was hit from behind by another skater. He added that he felt a clip on the back of his blade, a nudge on the back of his leg. He managed to stay upright, but Hungary’s Shaolin Sandor Liu, who bumped Krueger, went down. Krueger lost all his momentum.
It was later ruled that Krueger was penalized for impeding. Thus, his run for a medal in the event ended in the semifinals.
Krueger said he disagreed with the ruling.
“Definitely off of first glance, I don’t think the call was correct, but I definitely need to go through the replay and video to reconfirm my opinion,” he told reporters.
“Part of the sport is to take the bad calls and the good calls, so tonight, I’m going to have to accept this call and just make sure it doesn’t squash my confidence for the upcoming races.
“Tonight I’m definitely going to look over at some of the race replays and see what I can improve on, talk to my coaches and then get a good night’s rest,” Krueger said. “At the end of the day, all I can do is learn from this and make myself stronger and smarter and smoother on the ice.”
Krueger will also skate in the 500- and 1,000-meter races.
“My Olympics definitely isn’t over,” Krueger said.
It was not a good night for the U.S. squad. In the semifinal heat prior to Krueger, three-time Olympic medalist J.R. Celski also was penalized and disqualified from advancing to the medal round.