Elise Christie in tears after crashing out at end of Winter Olympics final
Team GB star Elise Christie has broken down in tears after an end-of-race crash dashed her long-awaited hopes of a first Olympic medal.
Christie, who was disqualified three times four years ago in Sochi, was closing in on a speed skating medal at the Winter Games in South Korea.
But she clipped Holland's Yara van Kerkhof and careered into the barriers on the penultimate lap of the women's 500m short track final.
After leaving the ice in tears, Christie said: "I've worked so hard for that moment out there and I got knocked over. It's so out of control but that almost feels worse.
"Normally in the final there's only four people so if you get knocked over you still get a medal by the end of it, but I ended up with fourth place and that's pretty tough to deal with right now.
"I saw the Korean and the Canadian bump so I thought, 'it's time to move now', so I've still got a lap to go and that was when winning was on my mind, but I got hit and I couldn't hold it."
Italy's Arianna Fontana grabbed gold just ahead of South Korean favourite Choi Minjeong, who was later disqualified for a tangle with Canada's Kim Boudin.
It meant Christie was retrospectively upgraded to fourth place, just outside the medals at the Gangneung Ice Arena in Pyeongchang.
Christie, 27, will have a chance to make amends on Saturday in her favoured 1500m event.
She is the current world champion after victory in Rotterdam last year.