Young Julian Macaraeg finished fourth in the quarterfinals of the 500-meter heats of the short track speed skating event of the 2020 Winter Youth Olympics in Lausanne, Switzerland.
Despite missing the semifinals, Mararaeg’s stint is a first in the history by qualifying a Filipino athlete in the Games.
Lee Jeong Min of South Korea eventually took the gold medal in 40.772 seconds, while Jang Sung Woo settled for the silver in 41 seconds, with Zhang Tianyi of China in third in 48.57 seconds during the semifinals.
Macaraeg, a 14-year-old New York-based Filipino skater, clocked a time of 42.046 seconds during the quarterfinals.
Mentored by a Ukrainian coach, he earlier topped the heats in 43.235 seconds.
He did not advance to the quarterfinals in the 1000-meter competitions.
The gold eventually went to Jang, who finished in 1:35.31 in the finals, followed in second by Lee and China’s Li Kong Chao.
