Christie opts out of Great Britain's European Championships squad
BySportsbeat
Published 05/01/2017 at 18:19 GMT
Great Britain's performance director Stewart Laing is targetting medals at this month's Short Track Speed Skating European Championships, although one notable name will be absent from the ice in Italy.
Eurosport
Image credit: Eurosport
Elise Christie, who has enjoyed a remarkable start to the season with a new world record time over 500m and five gold medals to her name, will not compete despite having achieved a podium position at the Championships every year since 2013.
Last year's European overall silver medallist Charlotte Gilmartin will captain the squad bound for Italy, where she will be joined in the women's event by Kathryn Thomson, Jennifer Pickering and Hannah Morrison.
In the men's competition, Farrell Treacy, Joshua Cheetham, Billy Simms, Jack Burrows and Jonathan Moody will battle it out for a spot on the podium.
Laing said: "The European Championships is an important event in our competitive calendar. Teams across Europe are starting to show their dominance on the world stage just proving how fierce the competition in Short Track Speed Skating is.
"We have athletes who will be attending this competition as their first major Championships and this will be a great opportunity for these athletes to develop and perform.
"We also have athletes who are returning as medallist from previous years and so our expectations remain high for podium finishes throughout the competition."
In a tactical decision made by 26-year-old Christie and her coach Nicky Gooch, she will instead spend time training in preparation for the remaining World Cups and World Championships in March.
"We have put a lot of thought into this decision," she said. "I've been European champion more than once, but not yet World champion.
"This extra training time could help me achieve that goal. It's a risk, but I am willing to try.
"By avoiding the rest days and travel days that come with competition, I can focus on more volume training as well as speed training.
"The European Championships are a very special event, it will be disappointing not to go, as the atmosphere is unique and I've had a lot of success."
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