Charlie is on brink of Olympic call-up Years of sacrifice put her in reckoning for South Korea
Charlie Guest admits herself that sacrifices have been made to reach the top.
But Britain’s female alpine ski star, who hails from the small parish of St Martins, knows it has all been worthwhile.
For the 23-year-old is on the verge of being selected to represent Britain at the Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea.
Guest, a former Strathallan pupil, explained to the PA:“I have made all my qualifying standards that I need to make.
“I just need to wait for official selection to come out in January as to whether or not I’ll be attending the games.
“So far from alpine skiing one guy and two girls have qualified, with me being one of them. At the moment it is looking good that I will be selected but all I can focus on is staying healthy and fast.
“When you are a little girl you dream of being in the Olympics one day. It’s weird that it has actually come to the point where Charlie Guest it’s coming around.
“I’m almost there and I can’t believe it sometimes. To be at an Olympics would make everything worth it over the years: the sacrifices like the social life – I haven’t had that – and I purposely didn’t go to university.
“My parents have helped me for fours years and now it is all going to be worth it.”
Guest, who completes three weight sessions a week, hit the world headlines back in 2014 after badly breaking her back while training in Sweden.
But this year’s summer of preparation has been spot-on, with switching to become part of the national set-up helping her cause.
“My summer has gone almost completely to plan for the first time in four years,”she said.
“I’m feeling really confident with how everything is going and with the gym work. I’m lifting weights I haven’t been able to lift in a long time.
“Skiing-wise I’ve changed teams and now work with the national team rather than doing everything privately.
“Now I have a very focused environment around me and the support from the federation, which is a main factor, so everything is going perfectly.
“I’m still in the middle of my main training camp. I’ve already been to Germany and then three weeks in Switzerland, where conditions were amazing. I’ll be back out for another three weeks soon. It’s ramping up now but is still technically focused. We are getting the timing out more and more in training runs to pin things down.”
There was a slight blip to proceedings, she explained: “I actually had a crash two weeks ago on a training camp and it was quite a big one. I messed up my jaw a bit and broke a finger.
“The accident back in 2014 doesn’t factor any more. I’ve had to rehab my back over the last three years and it’s something I still take a lot of care of but it’s something you can’t really think of when you’re at the start gate.
“Of course there are nerves and adrenaline pumping but as soon as you are scared that is when the mistakes and accidents will happen.
“When you back off the skis and are not committing 100 per cent to what you are doing then that is when you can get thrown off your game.
“Every single day is different: the piste is never going to be the same, the course set will never be the same and the snow will be different.
“You stand at the start gate and you know that anything can happen.You always have a chance. There are absolutely no limits and you can push it as hard as you like.”
As well as the Winter Olympics, Guest’s schedule is busy and there are World Cup points up for grabs.
She said:“For this season at the top of my goal sheet is top 30 in the World Cup. As long as I get a couple of results in top 30 that is that box ticked. That is my one big focus.
“If I am selected for the Winter Olympics, of course, I will shoot for a medal.”