(Posted 9:30 a.m., Feb. 14)
Orléans native fails to advance to 1500-metre short track semi-finals
By Fred Sherwin
Orléans Online

Prior to the Olympics, Orléans native Nicolas Bean had two goals -- make it to the semi-finals of the 1,500 metres in short track speedskating and help his Italian teammates compete for a medal in the 5,000 metre relay.

Unfortunately, he fell short of accomplishing his first goal by just three one-hundredths of a second when he was edged out at the finish line by a German skater. Three one hundreths of a second is equivalent to the length of a skate blade in short track speedskating.

Bean has dual Canadian and Italian citizenship. He decided to make the Italian short track team two years ago when he realized his chances of making the extremely deep Canadian team were extremely remote.

With the 1,500 out of the way, Bean still has the 1,000 metres and then the relay, an event in which the Italian team is ranked 5th in the world.

The 1,000 metre heats will be run on Feb. 17 with the quarters, semis and final sceduled for Feb. 20. The men's relay heats will be held on Feb. 17 starting at 21:32 EST. The final will take place on Feb. 26 at 22:51 EST.

(This story was made possible thanks to the generous support of our local business partners.)

Return to top

Return to Front Page