Winter Olympics

Fairfield Native Kristen Santos Misses Medaling in 1500m Short Track Competition

NBCUniversal Media, LLC

Fairfield's Kristen Santos missed the podium in the women's 1500m short track speed skating competition at the Winter Olympics in Beijing on Wednesday.

Santos came in first place in her quarterfinals race.

In her semifinal race, another skater interfered with Santos and kept her from finishing in the top two in the race, which would have moved Santos to the A Final and a chance at a medal.

Due to the fact that she was interfered with, Santos was advanced to the B Final, but without a chance at a medal.

"I'm disappointed in how things turned out but I'm not disappointed in myself," Santos told NBC Connecticut's Gabrielle Lucivero after the final race.

It wasn't the only time during these Games that Santos has been taken out by another skater.

"Luck doesn't tend to be on my side. It's kind of kept me out of two medals this Games already and that's hard to deal with. I know I'm fully capable of being out there on the podium," she said.

Gold went to South Korea's Choi Min-Jeong, silver went to Italy's Arianna Fontana and bronze went to Suzanne Schulting from the Netherlands.

Here are five interesting facts about USA speed skater Kristen Santos.

Santos has competed in multiple events in the 2022 Winter Olympics including the women's 500m short track, the mixed team relay, the women's 1000m short track and the women's 3000m relay.

During the 1000m relay, Santos was taken out by 10-time Olympic medalist Arianna Fontana of Italy, who slid into the Team USA skater with under a lap to go in the 1000m and crashed both of them into the boards. Santos peeled herself off the ice to finish fourth in 1:42.745 while Fontana was assessed a penalty.

Apolo Ohno says Kristen Santos is the best shot for Team USA speed skating to win a gold medal at the 2022 Winter Olympics.

Being so far from home, Santos said the support she has had from family and friends in Connecticut has been so important to her during her Olympic journey.

"Being here is such an honor. It's an honor skating for my country. It's an honor skating for everyone who's supported me along the way. I feel so much support from my family and friends back home as well as my teammates here and that's something I'll never forget and I'll cherish for the rest of my life," she said.

Contact Us