updated 8:37 a.m. ET Feb. 22, 2006

PRAGELATO, Italy - American Torin Koos failed to advance past the qualifying race in the men’s cross-country 1.3km sprint Wednesday, a disappointing end to his second Olympics.

Koos, one of the top U.S. sprinters along with teammate Andy Newell, placed 36th in the qualifying round. Only the top 30 went on to ski in the mass-start quarterfinals. He had already missed the team sprint while recovering from bronchitis.

“I thought I pushed hard,” said the 25-year-old Koos, who wore bib No. 1 and left the starting gate first in the 80-man field. “Going bib No. 1 was kind of an interesting draw. I guess it’s good because it means you’re in the top 25 in the world. I tried to go out and set a hard pace.”

Koos, the son of former U.S. biathlete Shaun Koos, sat out last Tuesday’s team sprint after being slowed in his training by a mucus buildup in one of his lungs that also affected his exercise-induced asthma. His training was limited early in the Olympics and he stayed at the Club Med in nearby Sestriere in order to be isolated from the rest of the team staying in the athletes’ village.

“He looked strong, but he might have gone out too hard,” U.S. coach Trond Nystad said. “It’s a good number to have (No. 1). He might have been a little too excited.”

Koos said his pace was fine but he did feel the effects of the lengthy layoff.

He has been in Europe since Dec. 21 with Newell, Nystad and sprint coach Vidar Loefshus. Koos began feeling ill the weekend before the Olympics began while at a World Cup in Davos, Switzerland, and didn’t compete.

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“I tried to ski big and powerful but I’m probably missing some fitness being out two weeks,” Koos said. “I paced myself OK. I didn’t die at the finish, but I didn’t have enough power to finish my kicks and carry them over in transition.”

Afterward, Loefshus hustled over to console Koos, who placed 36th in the sprint at the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics.

“You know you’re up there,” the coach said. “Sorry we didn’t have you healthy.”

Koos realizes part of being successful at the Olympics is having some good fortune — noting that several other Americans such as Michelle Kwan have faced heartbreak here in Italy. The figure skater pulled out of the games with a groin injury.

“You get dealt kind of a bad hand of cards once in a while,” Koos said. “I was lucky I hadn’t been sick the whole year and had a great body of training. Bronchitis is more than a cold. Rest is what I needed but that left me not quite at the top of my game.”

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