Andrew Young remained positive despite being forced to pull out of the cross-country skiing classic team sprint due to manageable heart condition.
Young has tachycardia, which occurs no more than twice a season, and it struck as he started his second leg of the event at the Winter Olympics.
The team sprint was Young’s last outing in Sochi but he looked to the positives of a Games where he was an impressive 37th in the 15km classic.
“I have got a heart condition, it is a heart palpitation, tachycardia. It happens two races a year. Every now and then it happens and you have to stop,” said Young.
“I don’t really like using it as an excuse. It is not an excuse, it happens. It was just at the start of my second leg and when it happens the advice is just to stop.
“We have improved a lot. If we got these results four years ago everybody would have been ecstatic. But now everybody is like ‘it is ok’. There has been a huge improvement in the team.
“Every four years the results are getting so much better that just to think four years ago this was unthinkable – to have someone in the top 30 and top 40 in a race.”
Young joined forces with Andrew Musgrave in his last event and his teammate and roommate in Sochi was looking out for the 21-year-old.
“I think he is probably a little bit disappointed but at the same time there is nothing he can do about.
“He has had it before though and he knows what it is and we just had to stop. We had a chance of qualifying for the final but when something like that happens there is nothing you can do about it.”
© Sportsbeat 2014