Treacy admitted he had low expectations for the 500m and his lane draw proved too tough to overcome
Niall Treacy admitted that he fell short of his Olympic expectations after another icy fall brought his Milano Cortina 2026 campaign to and end. Just two days ago, Treacy had followed in his older brother Farrell’s footsteps and stamped his name into a maiden Olympic final in the 1,500m short track speed skating.
But, despite feeling on form and winning his semi-final to get there, Treacy crashed out and was forced to take ninth place in the event, well short of the Olympic podium he had originally envisioned. Treacy had suffered an early exit in his favoured 1,000m event after crashing in the heat, and returning for his least favourite 500m on Monday, saw the same fate come his way.
The 25-year-old finished fourth in his 500m heat in a time of 56.712 seconds, with the top two progressing to the quarter-finals. Treacy was proud of his achievements at his second Games in Milan, but admitted that there was more to be achieved after coming so close to the podium.
“I hadn’t come in with too much expectations for the 5[00m],” he said. “I was starting in lane four which is never ideal, I think you’ve always got a lot of work to do.
“The gap had sort of opened up at the first lap and a half, or two. All them three are really strong, so I thought like let’s just try and close down the gap and I got the gap down a little bit but I just got on the power a little bit too early, and my right foot came away from me and I went down which is a shame.
“But I gave it my all in that race. I’m obviously disappointed that I didn’t get to do more in the 1000m but coming away with an Olympic final there is not much more you can ask for that than a medal.”
Treacy went to his first Games at Beijing 2022 alongside Farrell and Kathryn Thomson, a three-strong team. Four years on, he is the only short track athlete selected for Team GB.
Since the storied days of Elise Christie’s 12 world championships medals, GB have not seen the same success on the short track, but with two finals in the last two Olympic Games, Treacy is hoping that his achievements in Milan can help inspire more people back in the UK to take up the crazy and jeopardy infused sport.
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The Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games is running from February 6-22 and fans can enjoy more than 850 hours of action live on discovery+ via Prime Video.
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“I’m happy and proud with it overall. The Games are tough, they are super stressful and every race is like a final so I am pretty proud with how I have handled myself with how I have gone out there,” he said.
“Hopefully [people] back home are watching it. Even now, when I am watching the boys’ races beforehand, I am just like this sport is so crazy so hopefully it inspires some other people to get involved because it is fun, I love it and hopefully some other people will love it too.”
TNT Sports on discovery+ will be the go-to destination in the U.K to watch everything of Milano Cortina 2026 live all in one place, with over 850 hours of action from every sport, venue, and medal event.