Team GB speed skating hope Elise Christie has insisted that she is in a stronger position to medal in Sochi than she was in her Winter Olympics debut four years ago.
The Nottingham-born athlete competed in Vancouver 2010 as a teenager but has since risen to the top of the world rankings and won bronze at the World Championships.
Christie, 23, believes that her experience in the Canada Games will benefit her when it comes to performing under more severe pressure this time around, and feels that what she has achieved over the last couple of years makes her a feared competitor among her rivals in Russia.
"It really helps having the experience of an Olympics under my belt. I remember being quite overwhelmed aged 19 with lots of new experiences and pressures but I tried to treat it like another competition," she told the London Evening Standard.
"My mindset going into Sochi is completely different — I've been preparing for it since Vancouver. I'm in a different position having won a medal at the worlds last year and getting the World Cup No1 ranking so the other skaters treat me differently, too, and know I'm a threat."
Christie finished third in the 2013 World Short Track Speed Skating Championships in Debrecen.
Joe Fish
