CHARLOTTE Gilmartin bowed out of the 500m speed skating at the Sochi Winter Olympics at the quarter-final stage this morning.

The Redditch flyer never recovered from a slow start and finished fourth in her heat with a time of 44.279 seconds.

Meawhile, Gilmartin's GB team mate Elise Christie was disqualified in the 500m final.

The medal hopeful had reached the medal deciding race with some strong displays and despite crossing the finish line in second she was ruled out after a collision with Italy's Arianna Fontana and Seung-Hi Park of South Korea.

The British pair will be back in action in the heats of the 1,500m on Saturday.