Elise Christie needs patience to be a world beater, says mentor Will Greenwood

If there's someone to give advice on overcoming broken and aching bodies before a big event, then Will Greenwood is your man.

The former England rugby star, whose injured body miraculously creaked its way to winning the World Cup in 2003, has plenty of sympathy for Elise Christie who kicks off a new speed skating season in Canada this weekend.

It's the first stage of the 2015-2016 ISU World Cup campaign and the 25-year-old Scot nearly didn't make it after being wiped out in training two months ago by a team-mate and damaging ankle ligaments.

Greenwood, also a Sky Sports rugby pundit, has been Elise's mentor for over three years and having competed alongside her on a bike during the summer of 2014, he knows only too well how talented the Sky Academy Sports Scholar is and how she should be approaching her latest challenges.....Here are Will's words.... 

Elise and I did a Sky programme 'Riding the Dales' and she kicked my butt on a bike over 210 km! I have to say that I waited for a lot of people until she came towards the finish line but with 50km to go, she didn't wait for anyone else!

You could tell she had a competitive beast in her. We were going toe-to-toe through the Dales and you could see she had proper power. She was firing up those hills and her power to body ratio was immense.

Half-way round we had a chat and I told her that if speed skating didn't go well then British Cycling should get in touch. She'd smash it.

Our mentoring relationship is not all about face-to-face, it's more of an email check-in and someone to drop in on! 

She came to one of the rugby autumn internationals and watched what I do. I also had an accident at the start of summer and needed shoulder reconstruction so she's actually been the one checking in on me! 

Her latest injury must have been tough. Injuries and sporting careers go hand in hand and it's the biggest pain in the backside. You have to learn to deal with it. That comes with patience, maturity and experience.

You get injuries early in your career and you rush back and you think you're invincible but they can really hurt you.

With time and experience you learn to understand them and use them as a positive to recharge the mental side of the game. But with your physical side, you need that absolute focus on doing all the little bits of rehab.  

I remember Barney Kenny and Phil Pask - my physios with England. I loved and hated them. I loved them because they got me fit for the 2003 World Cup. I hated them because I can still hear their voices shouting in my head.  

I was seriously struggling to be fit. I looked like Montgomery Burns [from the Simpsons] and so I was always going to be someone kept together by sticky plaster!

There was also the British Lions tour in 1997 and 2001 when I very nearly didn't make it. Your body has a certain amount of time for healing, no matter how super human you think you are.

You can never rush recovery. You need patience and be aware of the 'sore tooth' syndrome where you are constantly fiddling with it which does it no good. It's the same as a hamstring injury when you're stretching it every few seconds.

You need to leave it alone. That's one of the hardest things, but you mustn't fall into the trap.

It's important to have hobbies and passions outside of your sport. Plus have a good close circle of friends you can have dinner with, catch up and find out about other things.

You need to understand you're in this bubble and you might think it's the most important bubble in the world but in the grand scheme of life there is a lot of other stuff going on.

You never lose your hunger and desire but speed skating and rugby may be all you know. It's crucial to be able to switch off. The great athletes I knew do not live their sport every second.

I always believe in living by this phrase - "The strong take from the weak but the smart take from the strong."

Elise is unbelievably powerful and strong and she needs to have course management and be able to deal with what life throws at her.

Once she cracks that she'll be unstoppable. She's in such a tight turning event that it walks hand in hand with calamity every time she takes to the track. It's the same as a scrum half in rugby.

If you go looking to force the gap, the back rowers are waiting to eat you up and spit you out. There is always time. If you over-force your hand you get found out in life.

You only have to look at Mo Farah and his stumble and how he's got going again and kept going. There is no such thing as luck. You are absolutely your own driver.

Elise's absolute stubbornness to be the most powerful  person in the world is an incredible attribute. I saw that first hand riding in the Dales - what she got out of her body.

Her challenge to be the winner we all know she can be is to manage the dips. Good teams win when they play badly and she has to learn how to win or get through when things go against her.

WHAT'S COMING UP FOR OUR SCHOLARS

OCTOBER 21-31: Olivia Breen - IPC World Championships, Doha

OCTOBER 31-NOVEMBER 1: Elise Christie, World Cup, Toronto 

NOVEMBER 28: Jess Judd, European Cross Country Champs trials