Ellia Smeding

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Name of coach	Siep Hoekstra [club], NED
Reason for choosing this sport	She enjoyed inline skating as a child, so she decided to try speed skating and liked it even more.
When and where did you begin this sport?	She moved to the Netherlands from England at age eight, and began skating two years later.
Club / Team	Team FrySK: Netherlands

Injuries	A lung infection meant she was unable to compete at the 2017 World Junior Championships in Helsinki, Finland. (Twitter profile, 19 Feb 2017)
Awards and honours	She was flag bearer for Great Britain at the opening ceremony of the 2017 Winter World University Games in Almaty, Kazakhstan. (BUCS Twitter profile, 31 Jan 2017)
Ambitions	To compete at the 2022 Olympic Winter Games in Beijing. (bbc.co.uk, 17 Dec 2020; teamfrysk.nl, 01 Sep 2020)
Other information	BUSINESS OWNER In 2019 she and her partner Cornelius Kersten set up a single-cup filter coffee company called Brew22. They got the idea after seeing single-cup filter coffee for the first time while competing in Japan. Brew22 has five different types of coffee to match the five Olympic rings, and the pair use the profits to fund their training and competition costs. They also collaborate with other athletes so that they can benefit financially from the business. "We want to build towards athletes being able to fund themselves through our company, so that they don't have to set up their own business and spend all those hours that we did setting it up. They get to sell this product and earn money through that without having to do that much. We are starting collaborations with other teams and athletes now. That's what I'm really passionate about, to help other athletes who are in the same position find a way to earn money themselves without sacrificing their sport." (bbc.co.uk, 17 Dec 2020; switchtheplay.com, 01 Sep 2020) BUILDING SELF-CONFIDENCE She underwent mindset training ahead of the 2019/20 season to boost her self-confidence and increase mental strength. "I was afraid of making a fool of myself [earlier in her career] because no one had ever believed in me. It's only really been the last two years [speaking in 2020] that I've felt good enough to compete against others. My confidence has increased and I've learned to fight during races. I started working with a psychotherapist, which increased my mental strength and confidence. I realised I was worthy of competing." (switchtheplay.com, 01 Sep 2020) DUAL NATIONALITY Born in Great Britain, she is also eligible to skate for the Netherlands after moving there with her family at age eight. "People often think I went for the easy option because I chose to represent Great Britain, but I still have to compete at the same level at the same competitions." (switchtheplay.com, 01 Sep 2020)
Famous relatives	Her partner Cornelius Kersten has represented Great Britain in speed skating at World Cup events. He ranked 20th in the sprint combination at the 2018 World Sprint Championships in Changchun, People's Republic of China. (SportsDeskOnline, 18 Jan 2021; bbc.co.uk, 17 Dec 2020)