Great Britain’s ladies’ relay team didn’t set another new national record but they impressed nonetheless to reach the final at the European Short Track Speed Skating Championships in Dresden.
The quartet of Elise Christie, Charlotte Gilmartin, Alex Stanley and Kathryn Thomson have been in fine form this season and only just narrowly failed to qualify as a 3000m relay team for the Olympics.
But their performances at the European Championships suggest that they can certainly reach future Games as they recorded a British record on day one and reached the final on day two.
After clocking 4:14.570 minutes to advance out of their heat as winners, they posted 4:15.671 to progress out of their semi-final as victors and become one of five for the final in Germany.
Britain’s men couldn’t follow suit in the 5000m relay as they were knocked out of their semi-final – a theme for much of the team in the individual events as well.
Christie and Gilmartin, who qualified individually for next month’s Olympics in Sochi despite their relay heartache, reached the quarter-finals and semi-finals of the 500m respectively.
And Jack Whelbourne and Richard Shoebridge, both also headed to Russia and part of the men’s relay team in Dresden, went as far as the semi-finals in the 500m themselves.
© Sportsbeat 2014