PYEONGCHANG, South Korea – American teenager Maame Biney has been eliminated from the 500 meters in short-track speedskating.
Biney landed in a tough quarterfinal that included former world champion Fan Kexin of China. The 18-year-old from Virginia trailed throughout after trying to go for the lead early and getting crowded out by Fan and Sofia Prosvirnova of the Olympic Athletes from Russia.
Only the top two in each heat advance to the semifinals later Tuesday.
Tough luck also befell medal contender Marianne St-Gelais of Canada, who was penalized for impeding shortly after the start of her heat and left the ice.
Among those moving on are Arianna Fontana of Italy, Elise Christie of Britain, Kim Boutin of Canada and crowd favorite Choi Min-jeong of South Korea. Choi survived a three-way photo finish for second and the crowd cheered wildly when she advanced.