A celebration had started.
Long Islander Matt Mortensen, and doubles partner Jayson Terdiman, had just completed the last leg of luge relay, and the members of Team USA were screaming, pumping their fists, and high-fiving after seeing their time posted, instantly realizing they had passed Italy for the overall lead by two-thousandths of a second, with just three nations remaining.
Soon, American Summer Britcher was shedding tears — far different than the version she expected.
After combining to race nearly three miles, Team USA missed out on an Olympic medal by roughly one-tenth of a second Thursday, finishing fourth (2:25.091), behind back-to-back gold medal winner Germany (2:24.517), silver recipient (Canada (2:24.872) and Austria (2:24.988).
Despite improving from its sixth-place finish four years ago in Sochi, Team USA felt so low, so shortly after feeling certain they would be standing on a podium together.
“It was a tough day,” Mortensen, of Huntington Station, said afterward. “It’s the Olympics. We all put it out there. … Unfortunately, we fell just a little bit short, but fourth in the Olympics isn’t the worst place to be. It might be the hardest place to be, but it’s not the worst.”
Following a strong run by men’s singles silver medal winner Chris Mazdzer, Britcher had trouble on multiple curves, though Mortensen and Terdiman finished with the fifth-fastest doubles time to put Team USA in front.
Britcher kicked herself for her performance — “I’m a little bit upset with it, and I feel really bad for my teammates” — but Mortensen, 32, wouldn’t allow her to shoulder the blame, following his final Olympic race.
“We’re all proud of her,” said Mortensen, a sergeant in the Army. “The team as a whole did what they could to put forth their best finish. All you can do is your best.”