Feb 13, 2018 2 min read

PYEONGCHANG, South Korea – American John-Henry Krueger, the 22-year-old Peters Township native who is competing in several short track speedskating events at the Olympics, competed Tuesday morning at the Pyeongchang Olympics with varying degrees of success.

Krueger finished first in his 1,000-meter qualification heat. He advances to the quarterfinals, which will be held Saturday. Krueger won his heat, avoiding a collision that knocked down two other skaters.

His teammate, J.R. Celski, wasn’t so lucky. The three-time Olympian was taken down in a three-man crash that caused him to need work on his right skate.

Pavel Sitnikov, the Olympic Athlete from Russia who caused the pileup, was penalized for impeding.

That left Celski and two other skaters to compete in the restart. Celski was in contention early before finishing third, one spot out of advancing to the next round Saturday.

The United States failed to make the A final in the men’s 5,000-meter relay in short-track speedskating.

The team of Celski, Thomas Hong, Krueger and Aaron Tran finished third in their heat, relegating them to the B final. Four years ago in Sochi, Celski was part of the U.S. team that earned a silver medal in the event to keep the Americans from a complete shut out in speedskating.

The home crowd cheered South Korea to victory in the heats. Besides the host country, the final on Feb. 22 will feature China, Canada and Hungary.

Krueger made his debut in the Winter Games over the weekend, when he skated in the 1,500 meter event. He advanced past the qualification stage, but his run ended when he was penalized during his semifinal heat.

Krueger is originally from Peters Township and grew up skating at the Mt. Lebanon Ice Center.

He missed out on competing in the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi after he was forced to withdraw from the Olympic trials because he got swine flu.