Silovs did, however, improve his standing over the previous Olympics in Sochi.
He trailed the leader, Dutch Kjeld Nuis, by 1.55 seconds. Norway's Havard Lorentzen, the 500m champion, took silver, trailing 0.04 seconds behind the leader.
South Korea's Kim Tae-Yun, who was 0.27 seconds adrift of Nuis, won bronze.