American short track skater Kristen Santos-Griswold looking for Olympic redemption

MILAN — American speed skater Kristen Santos-Griswold has unfinished business with the Winter Olympics.

The 30-year-old from Fairfield, Connecticut is targeting next year's Milan Cortina Games as redemption after an agonizing end to the short track at Beijing almost made her quit the sport entirely.

Santos-Griswold was one of the favorites going into the women's 1,000 meters final at the 2022 Olympics and led heading into the last lap before short track superstar Arianna Fontana tried to make a cut up the inside and the pair collided, with both crashing.

''Yeah, last Olympics obviously didn't go my way and it was pretty hard to handle, I'm not going to lie,'' Santos-Griswold said in an interview with The Associated Press on Friday. ''I struggled a lot with deciding if I wanted to keep skating after that, and kind of came back and forth between realizing that I wanted to do it for fun and because I love the sport and it wasn't about the outcome.

''And that's something that I'm still working on every day, just to remember why I'm here.''

Fontana was eventually disqualified, handing Santos-Griswold fourth place. But the American struggled after returning from China.

Santos-Griswold opted not to go to that year's world championships and instead took some time out to decide whether to return to the sport.

''I was all over the place in my head,'' she said. ''I would say like about a month of myself going back and forth, like really figuring out if it was what I wanted, not like what someone else wanted, not what family wanted, and if I could handle the mental aspect of skating because it's really hard.

''Ultimately I went back and forth for a while and decided that I didn't feel like I was ready to give it up. I felt like I still had more to give in the sport and I really wanted to push myself to the end.''

Santos-Griswold was speaking at the start of races this weekend in Milan that serve not only as the last leg of the Short Track World Tour — with her in pole position to win the Crystal Globe — but also as a test run for next year's Olympics, with some of the skating events set to be held at the same venue.

''Definitely being here this weekend I think is really exciting and also nerve-wracking,'' Santos-Griswold said. ''You want to obviously have a good feel and get a good mindset to be ready to be here in a year from now.

''But I think regardless of what happens, it's also enough time to reset if needed. So my goal for this weekend is to really just get a good feel and prepare myself for next year.''

Having taken three Olympic trials to book her ticket to the Games, Santos-Griswold acknowledges that she felt the pressure in 2022.

She feels there will be even more pressure next year but believes she is learning the lessons from Beijing.

''I think it was honestly a good precursor for this upcoming one and knowing how to handle that,'' Santos-Griswold said. ''I think that's something that honestly I've been dealing with a lot this year even, is the pressure of skating and how hard it can be and how frustrating it can be when you feel physically ready but mentally you might be not quite there.

''So I think while it's hard to deal with right now, I'm grateful that it's happening right now so that I can figure out ways around it and working with it.''

And there is one crucial aspect Santos-Griswold is focusing on.

''I think I always feel like I have to constantly prove myself in the sport,'' she said. ''But I'm working on being confident in the type of skater I am and knowing that I don't need to prove to anyone that I'm good.

''That I'm just good.''

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AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/winter-olympics