Elise Christie

When and where did you begin this sport?

She took up short track in 2004 at the Centrum Arena in Prestwick, Scotland.

Sporting philosophy / motto	"Happiness is the key to success." (Athlete, 06 Feb 2020)
Hero / Idol	British heptathlete Jessica Ennis-Hill. (Athlete, 06 Feb 2020)

Reason for choosing this sport

She was involved in figure skating before switching to short track. "I used to figure skate with a friend but then a short track club opened at the rink I trained at. I began short track once a week until I was 15 and then got invited onto the team and chose to concentrate on the sport. I found it more exciting than figure skating and when I won my first race I won a box of chocolates."

Most influential person in career	Coach Nicky Gooch. (Athlete, 06 Feb 2020)
Other information	RETIREMENT She retired from competitive short track in December 2021, although she revealed she could take up a different sport in the future. "I defied odds, never made excuses for having less than my opponents and I walk away with over 70 World Cup, European and world championship medals and a fourth place at the Olympics. I am not a decorated Olympian but I am a decorated athlete. This won't be the last of me you'll see in sport, but I'm taking a new venture down a different path. I won't reveal for now my sporting plans for 2026 [Olympic Winter Games in Milan-Cortina] but the Olympic medal dream isn't over." (isu.org, 15 Dec 2021) MENTAL HEALTH She began experiencing anxiety after she was bullied at school, and she has continued to be affected by mental health issues as she has gotten older. In the aftermath of the 2018 Olympic Winter Games in Pyeongchang she broke up with her partner, while her long-time coach Nicky Gooch was made redundant due to funding cuts, and she was diagnosed with depression. In the past she would disclose times when she was struggling on social media but she has cut back on her use of the platforms as part of her recovery. In 2021 she released her autobiography called 'Resilience'. "It's like someone having a tumour, knowing they've got a tumour and then doing nothing about it for ages because they are avoiding it. By the time you deal with it, it's gone too far. It's the same thing. If you don't deal with your mental health and your mental illness properly then it goes too far and sometimes you can't come back from that. When I slip up, I feel like I get judged a lot more for it because I promote mental health. I felt there is a lot of pressure on me. But I'm actually still recovering." (isu.org, 10 Oct 2021; telegraph.co.uk, 26 Nov 2020) PYEONGCHANG PAIN After receiving three disqualifications at the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, she was troubled by an ankle injury while competing at the 2018 Olympic Winter Games in Pyeongchang. She fell in her 500m final and 1500m semifinal, and was disqualified in the 1000m heats in Pyeongchang. "People warn you about injuries and I'd only been stretchered off in training. In South Korea, everything else went wrong. It was devastating. I can't describe the pain I was in and how it felt to skate with my ankle. It was the worst thing I had ever been through." (skysports.com, 21 Sep 2018; bbc.co.uk, 16 Apr 2018)
Awards and honours	In 2017 she was named Sports Woman Of The Year by the Telegraph newspaper in Great Britain. (Twitter profile, 11 Oct 2021) She was named the 2013 Sportswoman of the Year in Nottingham, England. (nottinghampost.com, 05 Nov 2013)

www.facebook.com/EliseChristie13/
twitter.com/Elise_Christie

Injuries	Injuries to her legs meant she missed the start of the 2019/20 season. (telegraph.co.uk, 26 Nov 2020; Instagram profile, 17 Nov 2020) She suffered an ankle injury while competing in the semifinals of the 1500m at the 2018 Olympic Winter Games in Pyeongchang. Despite the injury, she returned to the ice three days later to compete in her 1000m heat, in which she originally finished second before receiving a yellow card and being disqualified from the event. She took a break afterwards to recover and returned to training in July 2018. (Athlete, 06 Feb 2020; skysports.com, 21 Sep 2018; bbc.co.uk, 20 Feb 2018) She was troubled by a thigh muscle injury and tendinopathy during the 2017/18 season. (Athlete, 05 Nov 2018; isu.org, 26 Jan 2018, 07 Oct 2017) In the 2016/17 season she missed World Cup events in Dresden, Germany, and Minsk, Belarus, because of concussion. (bbc.co.uk, 09 Feb 2017) She sustained a serious cut on her back in 2015. (Athlete, 05 Nov 2018) She sustained a back injury in 2005. (Athlete, 11 Feb 2016)
Memorable sporting achievement	Winning the overall title at the 2017 World Championships in Rotterdam, Netherlands. (Athlete, 06 Feb 2020)
Milestones	In 2017 she became the first female short track skater representing Great Britain to win a gold medal at the world championships when she was victorious in the 1500m in Rotterdam, Netherlands. She also went on to win gold in the 1000m and overall competition at the event. She was also the first European female skater to have won the overall title at the world championships. (Athlete, 05 Nov 2018; SportsDeskOnline, 05 Nov 2018; bbc.co.uk, 12 Mar 2017)