Short track speedskating: Celski misses medal in opener

SOCHI, Russia -- Just shy of the podium, fourth place is the most frustrating finish of all at the Olympics. But with a smile on his face, short-track speed skater J.R. Celski of the USA said he was just getting started.

Celski was looking to add to the two bronze medals he won at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. It didn't work out that way Monday in the 1,500-meter race won by Canada's Charles Hamelin at the Iceberg Skating Palace (also the figure skating venue).

"I came out here and gave it my best and unfortunately came up a little short," said Celski, 23, of Federal Way, Wash. "But I have three more events to go out there to compete in. So there may be some medals in the future."

He'll also skate in the 500 meters, the 1,000 meters and the 5,000-meter relay.

Hamelin's winning time in the 14-lap race was 2:14.985. He was followed by silver medalist Han Tianyu of China (2:15.055) and bronze medalist Victor An of Russia (2:15.062). An, who won three golds and a bronze for South Korea in the 2006 Torino Olympics, became a Russian citizen in 2011.

Celski took the lead about midway of the race. But he ended up chasing the three medalists over the final few laps. Celski finished in 2:15.624.

"I went up, I think. with eight (laps) to go and pushed myself in first … but then the race was slow enough to where people kept moving up and up. And unfortunately I was in a bad position in one of the corners and kind of got bumped and lost my momentum," said Celski, who won his semifinals after two South Koreans fell.

But he still had that smile.

"I'm happy that I have this opportunity," he said. " … Any position I finish in is awesome. It's really a learning thing for me. I go out there and race and learn from it if I don't win and enjoy it if I do. At the end of the day, I have three more events left. And I'm looking forward to competing in those."

Celski earned his two bronze medals in Vancouver in the 1,500 meters and 5,000-meter relay. He won two golds at the 2009 world championships in the 5,000-meter relay and the 3,000 meters.

He began inline skating (with rollers) as a 3-year-old and had success at the junior national level. In 2002, he focused on short-track speed skating because he wanted to compete in the Olympics.

After the Vancouver Olympics, he took a year off from competition to work as a co-producer of a documentary film about the hip-hop scene in Seattle.