Elise Christie set to overcome injury for 1000m heats
Great Britain’s Elise Christie looks set to make a remarkable recovery from injury to participate in the 1000m heats as she looks to secure a Winter Olympics medal.
Christie suffered a nasty looking injury on the weekend as she crashed out of the Short Track Speed Skating Ladies’ 1500m semi-finals.
After being stretchered away, it was revealed that she had suffered soft tissue damage to her ankle. However, she made it through a light training session today, which is giving her hope of performing well in the 1000m.
Christie will undertake more serious testing tomorrow morning ahead of the 1000m heats and if she does qualify, then she has two full days to recover properly.
Team GB Chef de Mission Mike Hay said:
I’m cautiously optimistic and the reason for saying that is she was on the ice today. That was purely to see if she could put the boot on and skate around a little bit. She will go through a training session tomorrow. If she comes through that – and it’s still a big if – then she will compete tomorrow evening. Certainly the indications that we‘ve got for now, she is very keen to skate. We just need to make sure that medically everything is ok.
The 27-year-old specialises in the 1000m and will feel confident of winning a medal in her favourite event if she is fit enough to compete.