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Elise Christie

Great Britain

SportShort Track
FederationIDSTGBR21308199001
NOCGreat Britain
Born13 Aug 1990 in Edinburgh 
GenderWomen
ResidenceNottingham, ENG
LanguagesEnglish
Personal Bests
EventRecordDateLocation 
Personal Bests
  Event RecordDateLocation 
    500m 42.335 13 Nov 2016 Salt Lake City, UT  
    1000m 1:27.502 12 Nov 2016 Salt Lake City, UT  
    1500m 2:18.696 09 Nov 2013 Turin  
    3000m 5:01.148 16 Mar 2014 Montreal  
Main Achievements
 
Main Achievements
World Championships
Event  
World Championships
    500m   2    
    1000m 1 2 1  
    1500m 1   1  
    Overall 1   1  
European Championships
Event  
European Championships
    1000m     1  
    1500m   1    
    3000m Relay 2 1    
    Overall 2 2 2  
Sport Specific Information
Sport Specific Information
When and where did you begin this sport?She took up short track in 2004 at the Centrum Arena in Prestwick, Scotland.  
General Interest
General Interest
Sporting philosophy / motto"Happiness is the key to success." (Athlete, 06 Feb 2020)  
Hero / IdolBritish heptathlete Jessica Ennis-Hill. (Athlete, 06 Feb 2020)  
Sport Specific Information
Sport Specific Information
Reason for choosing this sportShe 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."  
General Interest
General Interest
Most influential person in careerCoach Nicky Gooch. (Athlete, 06 Feb 2020)  
Other informationRETIREMENT
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 honoursIn 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)
 
Social Media
Social Media
www.facebook.com/EliseChristie13/  
twitter.com/Elise_Christie  
General Interest
General Interest
InjuriesInjuries 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 achievementWinning the overall title at the 2017 World Championships in Rotterdam, Netherlands. (Athlete, 06 Feb 2020)  
MilestonesIn 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)  
Championships results
Year Competition Event Rank  
Championships results
    2016/2017 World Championships 1000m1  
    2016/2017 World Championships 1500m1  
    2016/2017 World Championships Overall1  
    2015/2016 European Championships Overall1  
    2014/2015 European Championships Overall1  
    2007/2008 European Championships 3000m Relay1  
    2015/2016 World Championships 1000m2  
    2013/2014 World Championships 500m2  
    2013/2014 European Championships 3000m Relay2  
    2013/2014 European Championships Overall2  
    2014/2015 World Championships 500m2  
    2014/2015 World Championships 1000m2  
    2012/2013 European Championships Overall2  
    2018/2019 European Championships 1500m2  
    2009/2010 European Championships Overall3  
    2018/2019 European Championships Overall3  
    2012/2013 World Championships 1000m3  
    2015/2016 World Championships 1500m3  
    2015/2016 World Championships Overall3  
    2018/2019 European Championships 1000m3  
    2009/2010 World Championships 1000m4  
    2010/2011 World Championships 1000m4  
    2013/2014 World Championships Overall4  
    2014/2015 World Championships Overall4  
    2011/2012 World Championships 1000m4  
    2018 Olympic Games 500m4  
    2013/2014 World Championships 1000m4  
    2016/2017 World Championships 500m4  
    2007/2008 World Junior Championships 2000m Relay4  
    2013/2014 World Championships 1500m5  
    2009/2010 European Championships 3000m Relay5  
    2006/2007 European Championships 3000m Relay5  
    2007/2008 World Junior Championships Overall6  
    2012/2013 World Championships 1500m6  
    2012/2013 European Championships 3000m Relay6  
    2018/2019 World Championships 500m7  
    2012/2013 World Championships 500m7  
    2014 Olympic Games 1000m7  
    2012/2013 World Championships Overall7  
    2009/2010 World Championships Overall8  
    2010/2011 World Championships 1500m8  
    2014 Olympic Games 500m8  
    2007/2008 European Championships Overall9  
    2008/2009 European Championships Overall9  
    2009/2010 World Junior Championships Overall9  
    2011/2012 World Championships 500m9  
    2015/2016 World Championships 500m9  
    2006/2007 World Junior Championships 2000m Relay9  
    2011/2012 European Championships Overall10  
    2011/2012 World Championships Overall10  
    2010 Olympic Games 500m11  
    2009/2010 World Championships 1500m12  
    2018/2019 European Championships 500m12  
    2007/2008 World Championships 1000m13  
    2008/2009 World Junior Championships Overall13  
    2006/2007 World Junior Championships Overall13  
    2018/2019 World Championships Overall14  
    2019/2020 European Championships 1500m14  
    2010/2011 European Championships Overall16  
    2018/2019 World Championships 1000m16  
    2011/2012 World Championships 1500m17  
    2018 Olympic Games 1500m17  
    2010/2011 World Championships Overall18  
    2014/2015 World Championships 1500m18  
    2010 Olympic Games 1000m19  
    2006/2007 World Championships 500m20  
    2010 Olympic Games 1500m20  
    2018/2019 World Championships 1500m20  
    2009/2010 World Championships 500m21  
    2006/2007 World Championships 1000m21  
    2008/2009 World Championships 500m21  
    2007/2008 World Championships 500m25  
    2007/2008 World Championships Overall25  
    2008/2009 World Championships 1000m27  
    2006/2007 World Championships Overall27  
    2006/2007 European Championships Overall28  
    2008/2009 World Championships Overall31  
    2006/2007 World Championships 1500m33  
    2019/2020 European Championships Overall35  
    2007/2008 World Championships 1500m36  
    2008/2009 World Championships 1500m40  
World Cups
Year Competition Event Rank  
World Cups
    2012/2013 World Cup Classification 1000m1  
    2011/2012 Moscow 1000m1  
    2015/2016 Dordrecht 500m1  
    2012/2013 Dresden 1500m1  
    2016/2017 Gangneung 1000m1  
    2017/2018 Seoul 500m1  
    2016/2017 Gangneung 1000m1  
    2016/2017 Shanghai 500m1  
    2016/2017 Shanghai 500m1  
    2016/2017 Calgary, AB 500m1  
    2015/2016 Dordrecht 1000m1  
    2012/2013 Nagoya 1000m1  
    2015/2016 Toronto, ON 500m1  
    2014/2015 Erzurum 1000m1  
    2015/2016 Dresden 1500m1  
    2015/2016 World Cup Classification 500m2  
    2016/2017 World Cup Classification 500m2  
    2011/2012 Nagoya 1000m2  
    2011/2012 Saguenay, QC 1000m2  
    2018/2019 Turin 500m2  
    2015/2016 Dresden 500m2  
    2015/2016 Nagoya 500m2  
    2015/2016 Toronto, ON 1000m2  
    2012/2013 Sochi 1000m2  
    2012/2013 Montreal, QC 1000m2  
    2012/2013 Calgary, AB 1000m2  
    2014/2015 Dresden 500m2  
    2012/2013 Nagoya 1500m2  
    2011/2012 World Cup Classification 1000m3  
    2016/2017 World Cup Classification 1000m3  
    2010/2011 Quebec, QC 1000m3  
    2014/2015 Seoul 500m3  
    2013/2014 Kolomna 1000m3  
    2014/2015 Erzurum 500m3  
    2017/2018 Budapest 1000m3  
    2012/2013 Sochi 1500m3  
    2012/2013 Shanghai 1000m3  
    2018/2019 Dresden 2000m Relay3  
    2014/2015 Seoul 1000m3  
    2014/2015 World Cup Classification 500m4  
    2014/2015 World Cup Classification 1000m4  
    2016/2017 Salt Lake City, UT 500m4  
    2012/2013 World Cup Classification 1500m5  
    2018/2019 Dresden 500m5  
    2015/2016 World Cup Classification 1000m6  
    2017/2018 World Cup Classification 500m6  
    2013/2014 World Cup Classification 1000m6  
    2016/2017 Salt Lake City, UT 3000m Relay6  
    2017/2018 World Cup Classification 1000m7  
    2014/2015 Dresden 1000m7  
    2016/2017 Shanghai 3000m Relay7  
    2016/2017 Calgary, AB 3000m Relay8  
    2017/2018 Shanghai 500m8  
    2018/2019 Calgary, AB 2000m Relay9  
    2016/2017 Salt Lake City, UT 1000m9  
    2018/2019 World Cup Classification 500m10  
    2013/2014 World Cup Classification 1500m11  
    2012/2013 Dresden 500m11  
    2019/2020 Dresden 3000m Relay11  
    2012/2013 Dresden 3000m Relay11  
    2017/2018 World Cup Classification 1500m12  
    2013/2014 World Cup Classification 500m12  
    2010/2011 World Cup Classification 1000m13  
    2017/2018 Shanghai 3000m Relay13  
    2008/2009 Dresden 1500m14  
    2019/2020 Dresden 1500m14  
    2015/2016 World Cup Classification 1500m15  
    2015/2016 Dresden 3000m Relay15  
    2010/2011 World Cup Classification 1500m17  
    2019/2020 Dresden 500m17  
    2011/2012 World Cup Classification 1500m18  
    2016/2017 Calgary, AB 500m20  
    2019/2020 World Cup Classification 500m21  
    2009/2010 World Cup Classification 1500m22  
    2010/2011 World Cup Classification 500m23  
    2018/2019 World Cup Classification 1500m26  
    2014/2015 World Cup Classification 1500m28  
    2012/2013 World Cup Classification 500m28  
    2010/2011 Dresden 500m30  
    2010/2011 Dresden 1000m31  
    2009/2010 World Cup Classification 500m32  
    2007/2008 World Cup Classification 1000m33  
    2009/2010 World Cup Classification 1000m33  
    2007/2008 World Cup Classification 1500m34  
    2017/2018 Shanghai 1000m35  
    2021/2022 World Cup Classification 500m37  
    2019/2020 World Cup Classification 1500m44  
    2008/2009 World Cup Classification 500m46  
    2011/2012 World Cup Classification 500m46  
    2008/2009 World Cup Classification 1000m48  
    2021/2022 World Cup Classification 1500m53  
    2008/2009 World Cup Classification 1500m57  
    2007/2008 World Cup Classification 500m60  
    2021/2022 World Cup Classification 1000m62