"I'd like to do well for my brother, but at the same time, if I become too conscious of him, it will weigh so heavily on me," she said. "When my parents and I speak on the phone, we don't talk about him very much. They just tell me he's doing fine and that I should concentrate on my races."

Noh said she paid her brother one final visit before leaving for Russia, but he was asleep at the time. They did talk on the phone recently, and she said he made a specific request for a present.

"He asked me to bring him some souvenirs, but I said there really wasn't much to buy here," she said. "Then he told me, 'Bring me a medal.'"

Noh didn't come through for her brother on Saturday, finishing well out of contention in the 3,000m.

She was still under the weather after coming down with a cold during the pre-Olympic training in the Netherlands in late January.

Her armband came loose early in the race, too.

Noh said she feels she has a better shot winning a medal in the team pursuit event, with younger teammates Kim Bo-reum and Yang Shin-young.

"We're working on our strategies in team pursuit," Noh said. "I am going to try to take home a medal." (Yonhap)