Hamelin, Girard miss out on medals in short track

Canadian short track speed skaters Charles Hamelin and Samuel Girard missed out on winning a medal in the 1,500-metre race at the Olympic Games on Saturday.

The 33-year-old Hamelin, from Sainte-Julie, Que., was trying to become the first Canadian to win three individual gold medals at the Winter Olympics, having previously won gold in Vancouver and Sochi.

But it wasn't to be for Hamelin this time around, who crossed the line in sixth place but was later penalized for impeding another skater.

"It was a tough race," Hamelin said. "I tried to make my way to the front and at some point it went wrong. It happens in short track."

Girard, 21, of Ferland-et-Boilleau, Que., came in fourth in the same race.

"There were a lot of falls, of overtaking and the risk of falling was high," Girard said. "I stayed alert and I took advantage of a couple of falls."

"The finish was super fast," Girard added.

Check out a replay of the final here:

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Lim Hyojun of South Korea won gold, followed by Sjinkie Knegt of the Netherlands and Semen Elistratov of the Olympic Athletes from Russia.

Hamelin and Girard will both skate again in the men's 1,000-metre race, and the 5,000-metre relay race.

"I'll put my focus on the next two races and make sure I'll get into the final again," Hamelin said. "Right now I'm just trying to get my head together and focus for the next day."

Earlier in the day, a third Canadian man, Pascal Dion, skated in the B final, finishing in third place.

Women's results

On the women's side, two Canadians qualified for the quarterfinals in women's 500 after winning their heats.

Kim Boutin from Sherbrooke, Que., and Roberval, Que.'s Marianne St-Gelais both won their respective qualifying heats to move on to compete in the quarterfinals and possibly the medal rounds next week.

Boutin is competing at her first Olympic Games. St-Gelais, meanwhile, is one of the most experienced Canadian skaters on the women's side, competing at her third Games in Pyeongchang.

A third Canadian skater, Jamie Macdonald of Kitimat, B.C., was eliminated after losing an edge while trying to pass another skater, and crashing out. 

Judges took a long look at the incident before ultimately deciding the results should not be changed, and Macdonald was eliminated.

The two remaining Canadian women will skate in the quarter-finals on Tuesday morning. The semis and finals where the medals are handed out will come later that day.

Elsewhere in short track, on the relay side, Team Canada moved on to the medal round in the women's 3,000m race.

They'll skate for a medal against China, Italy and the host nation on the morning of Tuesday, February 20th.