Elise Christie Winter Olympics OVER after disqualification

Elise Christie Winter Olympics OVER after disqualification

Elise Christie's rotten trip to Pyeongchang 2018 came to an awfully familiar end on Tuesday as she was disqualified in a blaze of drama from the heats of the 1000m.

The race was always going to be dramatic, considering her tear-stained crashes from the 500m and 1500m in the past week and that was amplified by uncertainty over her fitness after injuring her ankle in the latter.

But despite being passed fit, her ankle was an issue immediately. She collided with Hungary's Andrea Keszler metres after the start and fell to the ice holding her ankle. She looked close to tears.

Qualifying for the quarter-finals against that backdrop would have been remarkable, but after finishing second she was shown a yellow card for an unsafe manoeuvre.

That included two infringements - a nudge on Lara Van Ruijven and a push on Magdalena Warakomska. 

But she got to her feet for a restart and then, despite being a distant last off the line amid obvious pain, fought exceptionally to get into the top two. 

With the pain in her ankle, she was then carried from the arena by Team GB staff.

It follows three disqualifications in Sochi 2014 and continues her Olympic curse.  

'To be honest, not much [is going through my mind.] A few days ago I didn't think I'd be getting on the ice', she told BBC One after the race.

'I did everything I could to change it around. I had ligament damage and putting skates on wasn't comfortable. We did everything but it obviously wasn't mean to to be. 

'If it was another competition I wouldn't have got on the ice. The only reason I was given a choice was because it's the Olympics.

'I trained all my life for this. It was everything to me. It's done. I don't know, I felt I owed it to Britain. I want to get short track out there. It's an amazing sport but sometimes it does this to you.'

She added: 'I don't know how I got a yellow card. I have never had one in my life. I went up the inside and I passed the girl. I have no idea.

'The only thing I can think of is if the referee doesn't think I was safe enough to race. I can see why he might not want me to race like that. He was encouraging me to get off the ice.

'You'll have to ask me tomorrow how I feel. I'm a bit shell-shocked. I worked so hard to get back from this injury. I promise Britain I will fight from this and I will come back in Beijing and hopefully I can do Britain proud then.

'I have so much belief in the programme and in myself. It wasn't through a lack of capability it was just short track. What else can I say? Everyone has been a massive support - most of the people anyway.

'It's just frustrating having to wait four more years. It just wasn't meant to be this time. I would just like to thank all the kids who have sent me messages saying they are inspired. 

They have no idea how much that means to me. The fact five, six, seven year-olds find me inspiring brings tears to my eyes.' 

Christie denied that she had suffered an Olympic jinx after the disasters in Sochi and now in Peyongchang. 

'I gave it my best shot but had a crash from the start and it hit my ankle and at the point I thought it was over. I can't describe the pain.

'I was given a minute to just stand there and I was thinking of everybody back home watching.

'And I just felt 'I'd give it a go for them... I thought of how many people had tuned in to see that.'

She said she thought of the youngsters who had told her on the internet that she had inspired them and the comments on the web had been much kinder than after Sochi.

'I had so many messages from kids. It makes me quite emotional. They told me I was their hero and I just did it for you guys.

'I just thought that I was going to give it my best shot.

'I'll just qualify and I did that. I don't know what the yellow card was for. I haven't watched the race back.

'But when I was in the race I felt it was a real race...i was so happy that I'd qualified.

'I thought I made some really good moves and was quite happy that I'd managed to qualify with such a bad ankle.

'I got my first ever yellow card, which I'm not really sure why. It's not my decision, it's not in my control. I have to take whatever the referee gives me.

'I'm in a different place to Sochi. I'm a world champion and a world record holder and I've proved myself but I really wanted to bring it home for Great Britain. It really meant a lot to me and I'm devastated that I didn't.

Team GB's chef de mission, Mike Hay, said: 'She is a proud word champion and made a bloody good effort here.

'Sometimes in sport the referees have the final decision and we have to accept that.

'Ultimately it is incredibly disappointing for Elise to come to the games and go away without a medal. '

'I have some ligament damage. I was given advice and told I could choose whether I wanted to race. Obviously there are all these risks e it a go. That's what I did.'