Team GB’s Elise Christie has hit back at Twitter trolls abusing her for failing to medal at the Winter Olympics in PyeongChang.
The short track speedskater was double disqualified from the 1500m heats on Tuesday while competing with an ankle injury which would ordinarily require six weeks of rehabilitation.
The 27-year-old also received abuse from Korean fans in Sochi four years ago – where she was disqualified from all three of her races – after hitting Park Seung-Hi when she fell.
But Christie – a triple world champion – has already vowed to compete again in Beijing in 2022 and slammed those who have sent her abusive messages in the wake of her latest disappointment.
Team GB’s Elise Christie (pictured) has hit back at Twitter trolls abusing her for failing to medal at the Winter Olympics in PyeongChang
‘People who don’t believe in me, like, I don’t care,’ she told BBC Five Live.
‘You can stop sending me abusive tweets because it doesn’t bother me anymore because I’m a world champion, you’re sitting at home on your keyboards.
‘Stop trying to make people feel bad, you guys need to go out and do something special with your lives.’
But Christie did take to Twitter to thank her supporters after her second calamitous Games came to an end.
‘I wasn’t ready to let go, the reality was that with my ankle the way it was medalling was so unlikely, but my heart held on to that little bit of hope,’ she wrote.
‘I wanted to inspire people to never give up.’
The short track speedskater was double disqualified from the 1500m heats on Tuesday
The 27-year-old was competing with an ankle injury which would ordinarily require six weeks of rehabilitation.
Christie took to Twitter to thank her supporters after her second calamitous Games came to an end
She added: ‘I’m sorry it didn’t end the way we all hoped and I’m thankful for every message of support and every person that’s taken time out to tell me I’ve inspired them.’
Christie made her Olympics debut in Vancouver in 2010, and came up empty-handed in Sochi four years later.
She’s found her racing style questioned by some after her triple disqualification four years ago was followed by another tale of woe in Pyeongchang.
After being knocked down in the 500m final on the Games’ opening weekend, it was Christie’s error which saw her slide into the barriers in the 1500m semi-final and sustain the ankle injury which effectively ended her Games.
Despite her disappointment, Christie has already vowed to compete again in Beijing in 2022
Christie made her Olympics debut in Vancouver in 2010, came up empty-handed in Sochi four years later and again in PyeongChang
Clearly struggling, Christie picked herself up from a first-bend crash to muscle through the field on the re-start of her 1000m heat, only to pick up a yellow card for two disqualification offences from the judges.
But she remains undeterred – and has been backed by GB short track’s performance director Stewart Laing to nab elusive Olympic medal in Beijing in four years’ time.
‘It is great from my perspective. Elise has got huge potential and she is currently the world number one,’ he said.
‘We will go back and she will potentially take some time off and give her body a rest.
‘Four years of an Olympic cycle is hard given how she trains and how dedicated she is, so she will do that and then focus on Beijing.’