Despite disappointing Olympics so far, this CT speedskater has one more shot at redemption

Short track speed skater and Fairfield native Kristen Santos-Griswold was close to an Olympic medal at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.

She was in third entering the final lap in the 1,000 meters when she rounded the corner and was taken out from behind by Arianna Fontana of Italy. She finished fourth, and had four long years to think about that before the next Olympic Games.

After she was recognized as the top-ranked skater in the world last year, much was expected from Santos-Griswold in the Olympics this time around.

Instead, the past two weeks of competition have been a struggle for the 31-year-old, who graduated from Fairfield Warde High School, and now lives in Salt Lake City.

“I had to really sit there and think, if in four years the same thing happens again, would that be worth it?” she told Yahoo! Sports. “Obviously, I’m here. So I did decide that it would be.”

Her team finished fourth in the B final in the mixed team relay after a teammate fell. She finished fourth in the B final of the 500 meters. She didn’t advance out of the quarterfinals in the 1,000 meters, finishing third in her heat with the top two advancing.

Her last shot at an Olympic medal is Friday, when the 1,500 meters will be held. The quarterfinals will take place at 2:15 p.m. with the finals at 4:07 p.m., streaming live on Peacock.

“I think I’ll have to talk to my coaches and figure out maybe a different plan, and how I’m going to capitalize on the race at the end more,” she told Yahoo! Sports after the 1,000 meters. “You can never really predict what anyone’s going to do, so it’s just what it is.”

Santos-Griswold was the 2024 world champion in the 1,000 meters and silver medalist in the 1,500. If she wins an Olympic medal, she would be the first U.S. woman since 2010 to do so.

Before the Games, she said she was going to try to enjoy the Olympic journey this time, no matter what happened.

“That’s something I missed out on last time because I was so hyper focused on the end result,” she told The Courant in January. “I didn’t take a moment to be like, ‘You know what? The fact that I’m here, doing this, I made a dream come true.’ I didn’t take a moment to take that in and enjoy it.”

UPDATED: Follow CT’s athletes thru the Winter Olympics with schedules, results, how to watch

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