Picture: YouTube Blake Skjellerup is staying upbeat and positive after heartbreakingly narrowly missing out on a spot at the Winter Olympics. The New Zealand short track speed skater has posted a video to YouTube, saying “As a lot of you will know the Sochi Olympics start in a few short weeks. Unfortunately I come to you with a very heavy heart to say that I will not be there.” He adds: “I came very, very close. But it was not meant to be. I’m not disappointed in the outcome at all. I tried and I’m not embarrassed or ashamed of that in any way.” Skjellerup finished up just one spot outside Olympic selection after the qualifiers and would have been able to compete had another country decided not to send one of their qualified skaters. The Christchurch raised sportsman says he is proud of what he achieved since competing at the last Winter Olympics. “It’s been a rough ride since Vancouver, but I stuck through it. And I definitely feel like I’ve come out for the better on the other side.” Skjellerup says being a lone speed skater from New Zealand has presented itself with “a lot of troubles”, but he embraced them and worked with them. The biggest challenge was financial support and he has thanked all those who contributed to his fundraising campaign, without which he says he would not have even made it to the qualifiers. He’s also wished the New Zealand team the best, along with his fellow short track speed skaters from around the world. Since he came out as one of very few openly-gay Olympians after the Vancouver games, Skjellerup has been an outspoken advocate for glbti people and against homophobia in sport. He was planning to wear a rainbow pin if he competed in increasingly anti-gay Russia, and has expressed hope the Winter Olympics will be in the spirit they are intended to be. “These Olympics are definitely in a field of their own and I really, really do hope that the Olympic spirit can shine through,” he says. “I hope that our differences, our hatred, can be put aside. And that a message of tolerance, diversity, friendship, peace can shine through and that sport can do what it does best, by bringing people together in the name of humanity.” Skjellerup says he doesn’t know what the future holds, but says whatever it is he will embrace it and is excited for it. “Stay tuned, this isn’t the last you’ve seen of me.”
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Friday, 24th January 2014 - 10:02am