Reston's Maame Biney Competes In 1000m Quarterfinals Friday In Winter Olympics

Updated (Feb. 11, 8 a.m.)

BEIJING — Short track speedskater Maame Biney of Reston failed to advance from the semifinal round of the women's 1000m race on Friday morning, putting her out of medal contention.

In the semifinals, the top two finishers per heat and the next two fastest third-place finishers overall moved on to the finals. Biney finished fourth in her semifinal heat.

Teammate Kristen Santos won her semifinal heat with a time of 1:26.783 and advanced to the A Final to compete for an Olympic medal. However, Italian skater Mariana Fontana collided with Santos during the race, knocking her out of the competition. Officials later penalized Fontana for making contact during a lane change. The penalty did not alter the outcome of the race.

Medalists in the women's 1000m racer were Suzanne Schulting of The Netherlands (gold), Choi Min-Jeong of Korea (silver), and Hanne Desmet of Belgium (Bronze).

Fellow American Corrine Stoddard also missed making it to medal contention and raced in the B final with Biney.

Earlier, Biney, Santos and fellow American Corrine Stoddard competed in the quarterfinals. Biney finished second in her heat with a time of 1:29:225. Stoddard finished third in hers with a time of 1:27.912 and Santos won her heat, posting a time of 1:28.393.

On Wednesday, Biney and teammate Kristen Santos each won their heats to advance to the quarterfinal round. Although Stoddard finished third, her time was fast enough for her to advance to the next round.

“I was looking at my coach and he kept telling me to build on the outside and if anything were to happen in front of me to take advantage of it,” Biney said, according to a Team USA blog post. “I did exactly that, got first and it was super cool.”

Biney was also a member of the women’s 3,000-meter relay team that finished fourth in the semifinal round on Wednesday. They advance to the B final on Sunday and compete with the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC), Poland and Italy teams.

Although Biney and teammates Corinne Stoddard, Kristen Santos, and Julie Letai finished outside of medal contention, she remained enthusiastic about her Olympic experience.

“We did not expect to have a team here at the Games, so I think that during world cups, we came together and said, ‘We have literally nothing to lose,’” Biney said, of the relay's finish. “We all worked super hard individually and also as a team, and I think the fact we worked hard, to my perspective, made our teamwork a lot better.”