Moncton speed skater Courtney Sarault just misses in 1,000-metre quarterfinal

Moncton speed skater Courtney Sarault held second position for most of her race in Friday's quarterfinals in 1,000-metre short-track at the Beijing Olympics, but crossed the finish line third.

Sarault, the only New Brunswick athlete competing for Canada at the Olympic Winter Games, did not advance to the semifinals, but she has other chances ahead.  

"It was a rough race," said Derrick MacLeod, who was one of Sarault's coaches in New Brunswick, from 2014 to 2017.

Also in her quarterfinal heat was Arianna Fontana from Italy, who is considered "the best speed skater in the world" and has "10 Olympic medals on her resume."

"It's great to be in with some of the fastest ones," said MacLeod, "but for Courtney, she just likes to make the pass fast and Fontana does not open up much room for her whatsoever."

Courtney typically likes to take the lead right away, said MacLeod, and the second place position is a difficult spot.

"You have to be checking your shoulders a lot. And unfortunately, she swung a little bit wide going into one of the corners and (Hanne) Desmet from Belgium moved up on her."

MacLeod is confident Sarault will take the result in stride.

"I'm certain she'd be a little bit upset about it. But … historically, she comes back very strong. She kind of comes back with a vengeance in her other races."

MacLeod said the tag line of the International Skating Union is "Up again"

"That's one of the things that applies to our sport."

"You've got to get yourself up as much as you can, even if sometimes you are disappointed."

Sarault and Canadian teammates Alyson Charles, Kim Boutin, and Florence Brunelle will skate for a medal in the 3,000-metre relay on Sunday.

Together, they finished their semifinal Wednesday with a winning time of 4:05.893, just surpassing Korea's team.

Charles, of Montreal, also raced Friday in the 1,000-metre quarterfinals but did not place high enough to advance to the semifinals either.