I’ve finally beaten my Sochi demons
Battling Christie’s targeting gold
ELISE CHRISTIE has vowed to make up for her Sochi agony by going for Olympic glory in South Korea this winter.
The three-time speed skating world champion came close to calling it quits when three disqualifications wrecked her dreams in 2014 and made her the target of cruel cyber bullies.
But after turning to a sports psychologist Christie insists she has come out the other side of her Sochi hell with the mental strength needed to win gold in February.
She said: “I have worked with someone on the mental side. Initially, I tried to deal with it all on my own.
“Obviously I had the support of my team-mates and everyone around me. But I just tried to get through it.
“Eventually I had to ask for some help because I struggled with the fact that my sport had led to death threats.
“I couldn’t link how that worked. Why has something that I’ve loved since I was a kid, something I’ve dreamt of doing, led to that?
“I definitely take things a lot less seriously. The biggest thing is that I’m confident and I’m not desperate, not now. I almost had to prove it to myself before.
“I didn’t have that self-belief on a daily basis. Even though I could skate at world record pace, I would come off the ice and find fault.
“Now I’m still not always happy because I always want to be better. But it’s different because I believe in what I’m doing.
“I believe that I can win a gold medal but I also know that I’ll survive if I don’t. It has changed a lot for me.”
The biggest wave of trolling came from Korea after she skittled over national heroine Park Seung-Hi during the 500m final forcing Christie to close down her Twitter account.
And when she had to travel there again for a World Cup event, she was preparing herself for the worst but a surprise was in store.
She said: “I was thinking: ‘Oh man, I’m going to get booed.’ I was preparing myself for the worst.
“Then everyone ran at me. I couldn’t go in the stands to warm up, there were so many wanting to greet me. I think they almost felt embarrassed for the people who had done what they’d done to me.
“It almost made them have the opposite reaction. It was nice – and I was surprised, for sure.”
Christie proved she was made of tougher stuff at the World Championships in Rotterdam last March when the 27-year-old demolished her rivals to win the 1000 and 1500metres titles.
It was in start contrast to Russia three years ago when she pushed the self-destruct button and ended up in the thick of a pile-up when a medal was hers for the taking.
Christie said: “In the past, the pressure to come up trumps might have made me crumble.”
With her next Olympic crack just five months away, it means she’s not having sleepless nights about going to Pyeongchang and hearing jeers not cheers from the stands.
She said: That can only help me strike gold. It’s good that it has turned around for me. I wouldn’t want to go there being hated.”