Understanding Short Track

The ISU World Cup short track season is well under way after meets in Shanghai and Seoul in September and October, respectively, with the world's best skaters starting their preparations for the Winter Olympics in Sochi in earnest.

Once at these highly competitive events, the unpredictability and gruelling nature of the sport becomes increasingly clear with a straight knock-out format meaning the slightest error can see a skater eliminated as early as the preliminary stage. "The sport basically is about getting through rounds, but it's unlike, say athletics, where you have one round one day and then you have a couple of days to rest before the next round," Horsepool told Sky Sports. "In short track you basically go through the whole day, skating round after round. You can start off with say around 120 athletes in one distance, and then they are gradually cut down round by round first to around 85, and then 64 and so on and so on until you've got a final. "You can race six, seven times in a day quite easily. As you go through the rounds it's usually the first two who qualify for the next round, but depending on the numbers, the fastest third place finishers could also go through, which highlights the speed of the races if you like. That means that it can be an advantage if you go at a stronger pace in a round." To consistently reach the latter stages as Christie did last season then is incredibly difficult and Horsepool is wary that as a result of her performances during 2012-13 people may expect similar or better finishes as a matter of course this time out. "That's one of my fears - that people think that because Elise was world number one last year, that it will give her a massive advantage this year, but that's not the case," he said. For Christie this season will provide a new test in that she may find herself targeted in certain races, according to Horsepool. The fact she was ranked second in the world overall last season means that there will be no surprise element this time around to her bold style of taking an early lead and backing herself to hold on until the finish line. Implementing new tactics will be key for Christie and, indeed, all British skaters and it was something they started working on in Shanghai. "There will be a lot of tactics involved so one of the key things for our athletes to take from this event is to learn as much about how others are skating this year," said Horsepool. "Elise, for example, could be a target for some nations seeing as she was ranked world number one in the 1000m last season, and her characteristic style of skating, leading from the front of the pack, has become a trademark. "It has been important for all the athletes, including Elise, to work on different styles of racing and it's something we have been looking at since the World Championships in March." The development of the sport in the UK is vital for Horsepool as other nations throughout the world plough more and more money into a sport that offers eight medals opportunities at the Winter Olympics. However, keeping the standard of the skaters as high as at present is just as important given the levels needed to make the sports major events. The levels required to even reach the British team are incredibly high. Horsepool admits that whilst it does mean more will miss out, it ensures that the resources at his disposal are used to help the absolute best the country has to offer in terms of short track skaters. "I think from a performance point of view, development is a key focus of ours because we need to ensure that we've got skaters coming through at a lower level that can then be developed into world class athletes." "To give you a figure, 62% of people who've come on our programme since 2000 have made the top 10 in an Olympic Games. It's not like we take nobodies, they have to be within 6%, or be on a path to be within 6% of the world record before they can even train at the national performance centre at the National Ice Centre in Nottingham. That's the standard we set for the national team.

Standard

"To go to the Olympics they have to reach the gold standard which is within 2% of the world record, or 4% if it's your first Games. By selecting athletes who are at this standard means they are likely to be reaching semi-finals, or the equivalent of top eight in the world - that's where we start. That's our standard. "One of my goals is to make the short track team is the strongest we can possibly make it, and by doing that you've got to have very high standards. But by having high standards you're going to have people who are disappointed because they don't make those standards. My job and that of the support services around me, is to try and help those skaters, and to make them as good as they can be. That 's led to 22 top eights on the world circuit last year." To achieve such success despite coming up against the likes of Russia who boast 40,000 short trackers, Horsepool has had to build a support team capable of getting every last drop of potential out of Britain's skaters and it is these people who he sees as key to gaining the best possible results both at present and in the coming years. "I think the unsung heroes of our success, of the sports development, are the team behind our support services," Horsepool said. "We've got the best sites, the physiologists, the best strength and conditioning advisers. Nicky Gooch our head coach is an Olympic medallist himself in short track. He brings a belief within the group. He was my understudy before he took over so there's a consistency, a continuity there that's important. "Our nutritionist is Kevin Currell who the head of the EIS for nutrition; our top psychologist is Mark Bawden who is the head psychology for the EIS, he's also the England first team cricket psychologist. We've got a local GP who is now a sports consultant. In strength and conditioning we've got Tom Yorn who's head of weightlifting, and we've got Scott Gardner, who's just become the sprint canoe boss. "It's a bit like if you look at the Dave Brailsford model, my job is decide how much of one thing, and how little of another, add everything to the pot and know that everybody within it is working up to a level. If everyone is working well and at an optimum level then you've got a successful programme." Despite the development plans and the success, maintaining and building on the achievements of the past few years, in particular, remains an enormous task with short track's extreme unpredictability meaning even the countries with the biggest talent pool and funding are unable to guarantee victory. With Horsepool at the helm and supremely talented skaters such as Christie on the track, Britain are moving in the right direction. Their funding may be dwarfed by that of other leading short track nations but when Sochi comes around, Britain will be in the mix for medals and another victory for David over Goliath should not be ruled out.