Christie just can’t cash in
ELISE CHRISTIE does not do things by half measures.
She did not need to enhance her status as Britain’s unluckiest Olympian – but she did and now reality bites.
Short-track speed skating has received more than £5million in funding in the past four years but the long wait for an Olympic medal goes on – by the next Games it will be 28 years and counting.
Team officials will point to Christie’s 11 world medals since 2014 and the young talent coming through the ranks.
But UK Sport are coming under pressure to look at the £28m spent on funding all winter sports in the build-up to the next Games in Beijing. And they insist a return on investment must be measured in gold, silver and bronze on the biggest stage – setting a minimum target of one medal for the short-track team here.
Just one final, from the fivestrong squad, is not enough.
But there is no Olympic jinx in Christie’s mind, it is just a case of very bad luck.
“It’s nothing to do with the Olympics, it’s just the way short track goes sometimes. I’ve had three races that were rubbish in the last four years and unfortunately they were all here,” said the 27-year-old.
“For all the success I’ve had, I can’t let this define me. I can’t even count on two hands how many gold medals I have won since Sochi.
“It’s not about not coping with the pressure. I was nowhere near as stressed here as I was at last year’s World Championships because that was always the dream, to be the overall best skater in the world.
“It’s just unlucky, it’s not fate or a curse, that this has happened at both Games. You couldn’t have written this in a book.”
Christie left Sochi wondering whether she could continue in the sport. False starts, disqualifications, falls and death threats – everything that could go wrong did go wrong.
In the four years since, she has become a three-time world champion, broken world records and established herself as the top-ranked skater in her sport. Surely, this Olympics could not be as bad? How wrong she was.
After falling and finishing fourth in the 500m final, she fell again and was disqualified in the 1500m, injuring her right ankle.
She hobbled to the start line for yesterday’s 1000m – her favourite event – but was sent spinning into the barriers at the very first corner.
Christie got up, skating on one leg, and returned to the start line for the restart, gingerly setting off and allowing others to contest the race while she stayed patient. Using every bit of energy, she qualified in second, only to then be disqualified for two in-race infringements – a nudge on the Netherlands’ Lara van Ruijven and a push on Poland’s Magdalena Warakomska. You really could not make it up.
“My ankle has doubled in size,” she said. “Getting it into my skate was hard enough and I gave it my best shot.
“I was thinking about everyone back home watching and I wanted to give it a go for them. “I had so many messages and some of them have made me quite emotional. All the kids that have used Twitter to contact me, they have told me I’m their hero. I was bullied as a kid and no one had my back and now everyone has my back. I’ve got four years to get ready to repay them.” ● Don’t miss a moment of the Winter Games at eurosport.co.uk and on the Eurosport app.