Elise Christie

Elise Christie (born 13 August 1990) is a British short track short-track speed-skater and is coached by Nicky Gooch. She specialises in the 1000 m event. A ten time European gold medalist, including two overall European titles in 2015 and 2016. In the 2017 World Championships in Rotterdam she won world titles at 1000 m, 1500 m and the overall gold, the first British and first European woman to do so.

Christie was born in Scotland in 1990. When she was 15 she moved to Nottingham to train full-time. Christie studies sport science at Loughborough College and trains three times a day. She was named Nottingham Sportswoman of the Year in 2013.

She has been in a relationship with Hungarian short track speed skater Sándor Liu Shaolin since October 2015.

European Championships

At the 2010 European Short Track Speed Skating Championships in Dresden, Germany, Christie won a silver medal in the 1500m and 3000m, and took the overall bronze medal.

At the 2013 European Short Track Speed Skating Championships in Malmö, Sweden, Christie won the 1500m and 1000m. She retained her 1000m title in 2014 in Dresden.

At the 2014 European Championships in Dresden, Christie took the gold in the 1000m event, as well as a silver as part of the British team in the 3000m relay, and narrowly missed out on a medal in the 1500m where she finished fourth. As a result, she took the overall silver behind gold medallist Jorien ter Mors.

At the 2015 European Championships in Dordrecht, Netherlands Christie claimed her first overall European title after winning gold in the 500m and 1500m and finishing second in the 3000m super final.

At the 2016 European Championships in Sochi, Russia, Christie retained her overall European title after winning gold in the 500m, 1000m and 1500m events.

World Championships

At the 2013 World Short Track Speed Skating Championships in Debrecen, Hungary, Christie won a bronze medal in 1000m. In addition Christie was the 1000 metres champion for the 2012–13 World Cup season.

At the 2014 World Short Track Speed Skating Championships in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, Christie won a silver medal in 500m and came 4th overall.

At the 2015 World Short Track Speed Skating Championships in Moscow, Russia, Christie took two silvers in the 500m and 1000m, becoming the first British skater to win two medals at a World Short Track Speed Skating Championships.

Olympic Games

Christie competed in the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada finishing 11th in the 500m, 19th in the 1000m and 20th in the 1500m.

At the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, Christie entered the 500m, 1000m and 1500m events with high hopes of a medal. She reached the A final of the 500m but was disqualified after colliding with Italian skater Arianna Fontana, thus finishing eighth after being ranked below the B Finalists. She then competed in the 1500m event two days later, where she was disqualified in the heats for not crossing the finishing line, reportedly only 1 cm off the permitted leeway. Christie qualified for the quarter-finals by comfortably winning her heat in the 1000m event, and then won her quarter final. In the semi-final Christie was penalised for the third time after colliding with China's Jianrou Li on the final turn of the race.

During the 2014 Winter Olympics, Christie was being harassed on Twitter by South-Koreans after being accused of causing Park Seung-Hi to crash during the 500m final. This led to calls from the BOA to improve the policing of comments made on athletes' Twitter and Facebook accounts and for Christie to close her Twitter account.