Elise Christie
Elise Christie is a British short track speed skater who specialises in the 1000-metre event. She is a ten-time European Gold medallist, including two overall European titles in 2015 and 2016. In the 2017 World Championships in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, she won World titles in the 1000- and 1500-metre events, as well as the overall Gold, the first British woman and first European woman to do so.
Elise was born in Livingston, Scotland, in 1990. She went to school at St Margaret’s Academy in Livingston and later studied at Loughborough College in the Advanced Level Apprenticeship in Sporting Excellence (AASE) sports programme.
She was originally a figure skater, but took up speed skating when she was about 12 years old. She committed to speed skating at 15 years of age when she moved to Nottingham to train full time at the National Ice Centre.
Elise was named Nottingham Sportswoman of the Year in 2013 and 2015 (runner-up in 2014). She was named Sunday Times Sportswoman of the Year in 2017 in recognition of her world title success at the 2017 World Championships.
In 2019 she discussed via a social media post highlighting mental health awareness that she had suffered from depression and anxiety, including self-harm, for a 2-year period. Elise will release her autobiography in 2021.