Niall Treacy stormed his way out of left-field to the most unlikely of Olympic finals and then crashed hard onto the ice just as a short-track speed skating medal came into view.
Ranked No 22 in the world, Britain’s sole participant in the wacky races of this sport was third with five laps remaining of the 1500m when he went wide on the bend and clattered into China’s Sun Long.
The collision sent both men sprawling into the padded barriers and out of contention, before a VAR review later found Treacy to blame.
While that was a dramatic end to his challenge, it was little match for the sight of the 25-year-old in the final.
For some perspective around Treacy’s credentials, consider this – he was 27th in the 1,000m at Beijing 2022, his only previous trip to the Olympics, and upon arrival here he crashed out in the first round of his heat at the same distance.
Niall Treacy was disqualified from the short track speed skating at the Winter Olympics
The Team GB star was close to winning an unlikely medal in Milan Cortina on Saturday
The rest of his career has been one of those that seemed destined to exist largely in the shadows. He was good enough for a European bronze in 2024, but his struggles to make a dent on the global elite can be told by the fact he has only once broken into the top 10 at a world championship.
Despite that grind, and the absence of meaningful funding for speed skaters in Britain, Treacy’s 1,500m campaign in Milan has been revelatory. He was second in his quarter-final on Saturday and after winning his semi, he was suddenly faced with the prospect of becoming Britain’s first speed skating medallist since Nicky Gooch took 500m bronze in 1994.
It wasn’t to be, with Jens van ‘t Wout of the Netherlands eventually claiming victory, but Treacy mounted a fine effort.
It remains to be seen if UK Sport will turn the lottery tap back on, having drastically slashed the funding in this area after the end of Elise Christie’s career.
