The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Christie ‘thankful’ for all the inspirational messages of support
Elise Christie has written of her gratitude at the support she has received after failing to claim the Olympic medal she craves.
The short track speedskater was disqualified from the 1,000m on Tuesday night while competing with an ankle injury which would ordinarily require six weeks of rehabilitation.
She wrote on Twitter: “I wasn’t ready to let go, the reality was that with my ankle the way it was medalling was so unlikely, but my heart held on to that little bit of hope.
“I wanted to inspire people to never give up.
“I’m sorry it didn’t end the way we all hoped and I’m thankful for every message of support and every person that’s taken time out to tell me I’ve inspired them.”
Despite a second successive Winter Olympics ending with crushing disappointment and no medals, Christie has already vowed to have a fourth shot at the Games in Beijing in four years’ time.
She made her Olympics debut in Vancouver in 2010, came up emptyhanded in Sochi four years later, and has now endured the same fate in PyeongChang but remains undeterred.
Elise Christie has been backed to stick with short track and pursue an elusive Olympic medal in Beijing in four years’ time.
Despite her second consecutive calamitous Games, which came to an end when she was double-disqualified from the 1,500m heats on Tuesday, the 27-year-old has already committed to pursuing belated glory in 2022.
GB short track’s performance director Stewart Laing backed Christie’s stance which came moments after she hobbled off the ice after finding her fate sealed by the post-race jury.
Laing said: “It is great from my perspective. Elise has got huge potential and she is currently the world number one.
“We will go back and she will potentially take some time off and give her body a rest.
“Four years of an Olympic cycle is hard given how she trains and how dedicated she is, so she will do that and then focus on Beijing.
“From a performance director’s perspective, an athlete saying they want to continue is a fantastic thing to hear.”
Christie has found her racing style questioned by some after her second consecutive Olympics nightmare, with triple disqualification from her second Games in Sochi four years ago followed by another tale of woe in PyeongChang.
After being knocked down in the 500m final on the Games’ opening weekend, it was Christie’s error which saw her slide into the barriers in the 1,500m semi-final and sustain the ankle injury which effectively ended her Games.
Clearly struggling, Christie picked herself up from a first-bend crash to muscle through the field on the restart of her 1,000m heat, only to pick up a yellow card for two disqualification offences.