American speed skater crashes during heat

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

Kim raced against Holland’s Jens van ‘t Wout, Ukraine’s Oleh Handei and Uzbekistan’s Daniil Eybog in the seventh heat. As the group came around one of the first turns, Kim, Handei and Eybog all crashed. Van ‘t Wout ended up finishing ahead of the three.

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

The Virginia native competed in her first Winter Olympics for Team USA. He was a star on the junior circuit when he took bronze at the 2017 World Junior Championships.

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

OLYMPIC SKI JUMPER DISQUALIFIED FROM BOOT OVER 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 at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan, Italy, Monday, Feb. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)

Team USA still has medal hopes in the 500-meter event as Andrew Heo had the fastest time in his heat with a time of 41.136.

The Americans have had a hard time getting to the podium in this year’s Olympics. Through Monday, Team USA has earned 17 total medals, but only five golds.

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Brandon Kim of the United States competes in the men’s 1000 meter short speed skating heats at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan, Italy, Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

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