Jon Eley rode his luck Steven Bradbury-style but ultimately came up short in his bid for a miraculous Olympic short-track speed-skating medal at Palavela.

The Solihull racer seized upon his opponents' misfortunes to squeeze through two rounds and make the 500m final, only to trail in last behind American winner Apolo Anton Ohno.

His good fortune was reminiscent of Australian veteran Bradbury, who reached the final in similar fashion four years ago and then claimed gold when all of his opponents fell on the final bend.

Eley admitted: "I did think a little bit of Bradbury. But the thought of staying out of danger at the back never crossed my mind - because I wanted to go out there and win a medal.

"I had a little bit of luck but I was pleased with my skating and I got to the final, which will stand me in good stead for when I come back to the Olympics in four years' time."

Eley made it through his quarter-final heat after Chinese racer Li Haonan was disqualified. He trailed in third of three after a restart only for Italian Roberto Serra to trip on the final bend.

He was even luckier in the semis when he looked out of contention going round the last corner only to be impeded by another Chinese racer, Li JiaJun, who was disqualified.

Under short-track rules if a racer is ruled out the opponent he has adjudged to have impeded is advanced to the next stage - in this case the Olympic final.

But the 6ft 4in Eley's luck ran out when he was given an unfavourable fifth-lane draw for the final against a collection of the fastest racers in his sport.

Despite never straying far from the pace, Eley was left to watch from the back as Ohno denied South Korean favourite Hyun-Soo Ahn a clean sweep of short-track gold medals.

Ohno led from the front and thrilled the crowd with his dynamic performance, with Francois-Louis Trembley nipping in to take silver and Ahn having to settle for bronze.

Eley added: "It was not quite the start I wanted in the final. The first lap did not go as quickly as I would have liked it, so I was a little bit disappointed.

"I was impressed with the way Ohno controlled the race. I was waiting for someone to attack him - but he never allowed it to happen and he deserved to win.

"I came here hoping to make the semis if not the final. Today has gone well, and I am really pleased I got this far. Now I cannot wait for the World Championships in the United States in April."