American speed skater crashes during heat

American speed skater Brandon Kim attempted to take Team USA to the final of the 500-meter short track event at the Winter Olympics on Monday, but was involved in an unfortunate incident.

Kim faced Dutchman Jens van ‘t Wout, Ukrainian Oleh Handei and Uzbekistani Daniil Eybog in the seventh round. As the group approached one of the first turns, Kim, Handei and Eybog all crashed. Van ‘t Wout ended up finishing ahead of all three.

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Kim was penalized and did not complete a lap of the race.

The Virginia native was competing in his first Winter Olympics for Team USA. He was a star on the junior circuit, winning a bronze medal at the World Junior Championships in 2017.

Kim was also disqualified from the 1,000 meter short track heats last week. Van ‘t Wout won the gold medal in this event.

OLYMPIC SKI JUMPER DISQUALIFIED FROM EVENT DUE TO BOOT SIZE

Brandon Kim of the United States, Oleh Handei of Ukraine and Daniil Eybog of Uzbekistan crash in the heats during the men’s 500-meter short track speed skating event at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Monday, Feb. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)

The American team still has hopes of winning a medal in the 500 meter event as Andrew Heo posted the best time of his heat with a time of 41.136.

Americans struggled to reach the podium at this year’s Olympics. As of Monday, the U.S. team won 17 medals total but only five gold.

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Brandon Kim of the United States competes in the men’s 1,000 meter short track speed skating heats at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan, Italy, Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Stéphanie Scarbrough)

Team USA finished with 25 total medals at the end of the 2022 Beijing Olympics. The team won nine gold, nine silver and seven bronze medals that year.