Elise Christie is a 10-time European gold medalist, including two overall European titles in 2015 and 2016, but is to retire from short-track speed skating without having won an Olympic medal; Christie: "I am not a decorated Olympian but I am a decorated athlete."
Tuesday 14 December 2021 16:28, UK
Elise Christie has announced her retirement from short-track speed-skating, saying "part of my heart will always be missing" having failed to land an Olympic medal.
The 31-year-old famously crashed out of her races in Pyeongchang in 2018, and her quest to qualify for what would have been her fourth Games in Beijing in February was ended earlier this month, with ankle problems hampering her attempts to qualify.
"This won't be the last you see of me in sport, but I am taking a new venture down a different path," she said on social media. "Part of my heart will always be missing because I never achieved my end goal. But I leave this sport knowing it's left in good hands, with skaters capable of doing what I didn't.
"I changed this sport in this country, 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. Only three of those medals are in team events. I also broke a world record.
"I am not a decorated Olympian but I am a decorated athlete. I am sorry I let you all down, and I am so thankful to so many people, especially to UK Sport who stuck by me my entire career.
"For now I'll be focusing on helping the rest of the team and getting into coaching. I won't reveal now my sporting plans for 2026, but the Olympic medal dream is not over."
She is a 10-time European gold medalist, including two overall European titles in 2015 and 2016. In the 2017 World Championships in Rotterdam she won world titles in the 1000m and 1500m events, as well as the overall gold - the first British woman and first European woman to do so.
