'Only Up From Here,' Says Warrington Olympic Speedskater Andrew Heo. Here's How He Fared.

WARRINGTON, PA — Bucks County speedskater Andrew Heo skated in the last race of his first Olympic games on Wednesday.

Heo, a 20-year-old who hails from Warrington, made it to the 1500m quarterfinals in men's short track speedskating, but failed to advance after placing fifth.

He's not discouraged, though — he's leaving Beijing an Olympian, "motivated and inspired" to do it again in four years.

"Yesterday was the last race of my Olympic debut and I can safely say that I'm happy and proud of what I've accomplished at my first Olympic Games," he wrote to fans Wednesday, saying he hopes to get a medal at the next Olympics and that it's "only up from here!"

Heo entered the competition with a mindset of gratitude, he told Brennan Smith.

“To be here, is very humbling, and I’m very blessed to be able to experience this,” he said in an article for the Team USA blog. “Like I’ve been telling everyone, I have nothing to lose and everything to gain, and this is my mindset going forward.”

Unfortunately, Team USA was disqualified from advancing to the final round of the Mixed Relay event due to a semi-final referee decision.

But Heo's performance had some real highs: he was the highest-ranking short track finisher for Team USA on Monday, placing third in the B final of the men's 100m for a 7th place finish overall that day.

His father, Pete Heo, told KYW Newsradio that he's extremely proud of Andrew.

“I’m pretty sure he’s gonna want to go for four more years,” he told the radio program. “He’ll be more mature by then, more experienced. Hopefully that will be his second Olympics that he’ll be going into, so he’ll be more comfortable, maybe less nervous at the same time."

All three female U.S. short track speedskaters will advance to the quarterfinal round of the 1000m on Friday. The men's 500m heat will also take place Friday.

Related: Warrington Speedskater Headed To 2022 Winter Olympics

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