A Canadian Speed Skater Crashed Into A Wall & Her Reaction Is Heartbreaking (VIDEO)
Luckily she was still able to move on to the next round. 🇨🇦
That one's got to hurt! Team Canada Olympic speed skater Alyson Charles tripped and fell during the 500-metre short-track quarter-final on February 7. And while the tumble didn’t prevent her from reaching the finals, it was a pretty stressful watch.
In the race, Charles was skating with fellow Canadians Kim Boutin and Florence Brunelle, as well as Arianna Valcepina from Italy and Chinese skater Fan Kexin.
Charles was off to an impressive start in the race, firmly appearing in second place before her fall. Video footage of the event appears to show Fan flicking one of the unfixed markers into Charles' skates, causing Charles to fall and Fan to crash as well.
After the fall, the 23-year-old can be seen crying on the ice, which made for a heartbreaking moment for Team Canada.
After the fall, things got really messy. Because Fan and Charles both fell, Boutin, Brunelle and Valcepina finished first, second and third, respectively.
However, Brunelle was later disqualified by the judges, which bumped Valcepina up to second.
It was a happy ending overall for Charles. Because her fall was deemed not her fault and she was in second place before it happened, she was still able to progress to the next round.
While some people online have accused Fan of deliberately tripping Charles during the quarter-final skate, no penalties were issued by Olympic officials and Fan has not been found guilty of any misconduct.
At the end of the day, Charles was able to compete in the semi-finals, but placed fourth and therefore didn’t continue on to the finals.
Boutin was able to skate her way to a win and took home the bronze medal in the finals of the Women’s 500-metre short-track speed skate.
So far in the Beijing 2022 Olympics, Team Canada has racked up six medals, putting the country 11th overall in the medal rankings.