As the Winter Olympics in Sochi have just finished (boo!) I was very interested in the speed skate athlete Elise Christie. Having reached an age now where some of the athletes are the same age as me, it has really got me thinking about how dedicated and inspiring the athletes are.
Elise Christie was born on the 13th of August 1990 in Livingston. When she was 14 she moved to train as a speed skater full time in Nottingham. Christie studies Sport Science at Loughborough College and trains three times a day. Firstly, I have always admired people who have such a determination and love for a sport that they are willing to move away from their family and friends to get the best training. Also the fact that Elise attends university along with maintaining her rigid training program is incredible. It takes such a disciplined and hardworking individual to be willing to get up a few hours early, attend lectures, submit coursework, exercise regularly and still see friends and family.
During the season 2012/2013 Elise celebrated the most successful season of any British female speed skater. In addition to her World cup accolades, she also became double European Champion and won Britain’s first ever individual women’s World Championships medal with 1000-metre bronze in Debrecen (Hungary).
The Sochi Winter Olympic games in February was Elise’s second Olympics, she had competed previously in Vancouver in 2010. Unfortunately for Elise she was disqualified in three different races and did not win any medals. Elise Christie then fell victim to a horrible new craze of bullying, cyber-bullying. Elise’s controversial disqualification led to a social media backlash. It was utterly disgusting that people took the time to give this inspiring young athlete abuse; some tweets even threatened her life. The backlash of abuse almost led to her leaving Sochi early. However Elise has taken a positive attitude towards her misfortune, she has viewed it as a learning curve. I have all the faith in the world she will come back to the South Korean Winter Olympic 2018 and do great things.
Elise Christie is definitely an empowering women, it takes all the strength in the world to experience failure, accept it, learn from it and get back up.
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