Team that didn't compete in final somehow wins Olympic medal

By Ross Kelly February 21, 2018 at 5:17pm

“Sometimes when you win, you really lose, and sometimes when you lose, you really win, and sometimes when you win or lose, you actually tie, and sometimes when you tie, you actually win or lose.”

— Rosie Perez’s character in “White Men Can’t Jump”

That confusing quote can accurately describe the mayhem that ensued in Tuesday’s short track speedskating event. The women’s 3,000-meter relay took place, and a team that didn’t even compete in the final walked away with a medal.

The Netherlands team was essentially in fifth place in a four-team final, which meant it didn’t even qualify for the medal race.

As a result, the Netherlands skaters were sent to the “B” final, which is a consolation race. They not only won that race, but they set a world record in the process with a time of 4:03.471.

When it came to the four-team final, South Korea, Italy, Canada and China would battle it out for the three medals. The 27-lap “A” final was won by South Korea, which repeated after also taking home gold at the 2014 Winter Games.

The final order of the “A” race was South Korea first; China second; Italy third; and Canada fourth. But there were in-race penalties for both China and Canada, which led to them being disqualified. Italy bumped up to silver, and non-participant the Netherlands was awarded the bronze medal.

The International Skating Union released a statement detailing the rules violations made by the offending teams.

“During China’s final relay exchange, the active Chinese skater drastically changed lane from the outside to the inside, impeding the active Korean skater,” it said.

Photos of the race would emerge showing a Chinese skater cutting off a South Korean skater and then pushing off her for momentum.

“In the case of Canada, a non-competing skater on the ice crossed over and impeded the action at the finish lane,” the skating organization said.

Canada’s disqualification came from one of the relay members, who was due to be tagged in, being in the way of skaters from other nations.

Netherlands short-track team wins bronze medal for world-record race, didn’t even compete in final: https://t.co/q8MqDhDkU1 pic.twitter.com/GGLzJfr52t

— Deadspin (@Deadspin) February 21, 2018

Members of the Netherlands team watched the “A” final and were aware that something might have happened that would put them in medal contention.

“After we watched the A final, and it was really crazy, we were just so nervous and we wait for the call and it was like two penalties,” Suzanne Schulting said.

🇨🇦 and 🇨🇳 get penalized in 3000m short track relay, pushing the Netherlands up to bronze medal position from the B Final.

Drama on the icehttps://t.co/zpQbFvSkx3 pic.twitter.com/3zYwKd8H3C

— CBC Olympics (@CBCOlympics) February 20, 2018

This is the Netherlands’ third medal in short track speedskating at the Pyeongchang Olympics. It had previously won silver medals in two individual events, and now only South Korea has more medals with four overall.

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