...but more e misery for Elise
FIRST there were tears, then fears and finally news that Elise Christie had not broken her leg. In the context of her Winter Olympics curse, that last point was perhaps the most surprising.
Quite simply, nothing else has gone her way at these Games, which were meant to be a redemption for three disqualifications at Sochi 2014, but instead have become a recurrence of the nightmare. Last night’s instalment was particularly unpleasant, with Christie crashing out of the 1500 metres semi-final and injuring her right ankle by colliding hard with a barrier.
Just as she had done following her crash in the 500m final on Tuesday, she left the ice in floods of tears, though this time on a stretcher. The British Olympic Association allayed the worst fears by saying an x-ray on her right ankle showed no fractures, but what of her state of mind?
Even if she is somehow fit to race in her favoured 1000m discipline, starting on Tuesday, her confidence seems to be in pieces following two traumatic failures to win medals in Pyeongchang. Her boyfriend, the Hungarian skater Shaolin Liu, who by freak coincidence was also disqualified for a crash in the 1000m moments after Christie’s incident, said he was ‘hopeful’ she would compete next week, having spoken to her from hospital.
‘I had a phone call and she told me she was fine,’ he said. ‘She’s a tough woman and I think she is going to be fine (for the 1000m).’
Mike Hay, the Team GB chef de mission, said: ‘It is
hard to write this, isn’t it? It’s tough. Right now it doesn’t matter about the race — it is her health we are concerned for. Hopefully it is nothing too serious but the scans will tell us. It is incredibly unfortunate.’
The latest crash came in the desperation of her final lap. She needed to overtake Li Jinyu to get into the top two and qualify for the final, but after clipping the Chinese on the outside she flew heavily into the barriers. Officials blamed Christie for the crash, which also took out Li, and disqualified her as she lay injured.
A decision will be made in the next 48 hours over where she can return in the 1000m. Christie’s problems came after Charlotte Gilmartin crashed in her semi-final and Kathryn Thomson went out in the heats.
Gilmartin said: ‘When you are going around the outside and you fall, you can end up in an awkward position and get hurt. You hit it at such speed.’