Elise Christie ready for speed skating World Championships in Korea
Tuesday 14 February 2017 11:56, UK
Elise Christie has several golden reasons to be confident at this weekend's World Championships in Korea.
GB's top short track speed skater has been red hot on the ice this season. The Sky Academy Sports Scholar has been crowned European champion and won three golds in four World Cup events.
The 25-year-old from Livingston has battled back from confidence wobbles and a pre-season ankle injury, but it seems the inside of her head has really fired her up.
In her latest blog, Elise reveals how her mindset has changed and why she's so ready to take on the world in Seoul.....
It's incredibly easy to become caught up in a moment. It's even easier to go through the motions and surpass moments of importance. There are moments you won't realise how important they are until they become a fond memory.
I have learnt not to take the good moments for granted and to live in those moments, don't question why things are going so well, just experience it, feel it, enjoy it.
Worrying about future problems all the time can paralyse your day to day life and stop you from truly experiencing life. I've been having some good moments recently and I've never felt so ready for such a big event this weekend.
Over the past two months, I've become European champion in three distances, gained the overall title of European Champion and won medals in four out of four world cup events, three of these being gold. As an athlete this has been my most successful season so far.
I believe it's all down to me living the moment right now. The last time I remember being anywhere near as successful was the 2012/13 season. That year, all I can remember thinking about was the next race and how next time I might fail and how I might not ever win another medal.
I also remember being really stressed about getting everything right all the time. My small success began to cripple me and my biggest regret the following year was not living in those moments of success.
At the start of this season, I decided to take a different approach. It became less about winning medals and outcomes and more about achieving my full potential, my true potential, finding out what I was actually made of. I had to stop crippling myself with stress and stop playing it safe.
It was time to fight more, give 100 per cent of myself to skating. To do this I looked back on previous years and previous success and decided that I could accept never winning another medal.
There would be no more disappointment at competitions, thinking I could give have given more. I was coming home after events having given 100 per cent and sometimes picking up medals but still being disappointed because I couldn't access the best version of myself.
My focus became stepping off the ice knowing I had fought the fight and had nothing to regret and that I had put my ego on the line.
This approach has really changed things for me, I'm a whole new athlete… and fortunately at this point in time it's working out for me.
I'm controlling races and enjoying myself. I haven't enjoyed competing for years. Through enjoying the moment and not over-stressing about results I've become a more resilient athlete and much harder for my opponents to push around.
This weekend it's the season's penultimate competition - the World Championships and I'm feeling really positive and confident. I can't say I've ever gone into this event with confidence before.
Of course I can see the Olympics getting closer and closer, so I know my focus needs to be fully on preparing for them (South Korea in 2018). This World Championships is going to be the first competition so far that I have to practise my new-found skill set under a lot of pressure.
However, I feel the most ready I've ever felt to take on this pressure and I'm really excited about competing and putting my ego on the line so I can focus on doing things the right way instead of the easy way.
In the short term this increases my chances of failing, but long term this will drastically improve my chances of success. I've learnt so much about myself as an athlete and as a person this year.
As humans I feel it's important we continually learn and develop ourselves. So my mindset going into the World Championships is to keep learning, I want to challenge my body, and see what it's really capable of.
Short track is a huge sport in South Korea. There's always a great environment in the country with so many people cheering. I'm so excited about getting on the ice to race.
My recent success could never have happened without changing my mindset and making the right choice. These changes haven't only affected my skating but have also affected my personal life.
I feel so much happier and I hope others can be influenced to do the same. Some days are going to be more challenging than others, but everything is a choice.
Some choices are just harder than others. But there is a beauty to find in every day. We need to stop going through the motions and experience the moments.
WHAT'S COMING UP FOR OUR SCHOLARS
MARCH 11-15: Elise Christie, World Championships, Seoul
March 7-13: Jack Bateson, Chemistry Cup, Germany
MARCH 12/13: Quillan Isidore, British BMX Round 1&2, Manchester
