Christie 'devastated' as GB withdraw from European Short Track Champs

Great Britain has withdrawn from the ISU European Short Track Championships due to complications faced because of the Coronavirus pandemic that could have seen athletes stuck at the event.

Continued travel disruption due to Covid-19 has ensured that getting to and from the event in Gdansk, Poland, which runs from 22nd to 24th January, has become a logistical nightmare.

With Covid-19 restrictions in place across Europe ever-changing as well as flights becoming ever more limited, there was the very real possibility that the squad could have become stuck in Poland.

With this in mind, the decision was taken to pull out for the safety of the athletes involved.

A team of eight, featuring ten-time European champion Elise Christie, had been due to travel to Poland on the 17th January before entering a competition bubble and had already undergone one round of covid tests.

"After a tough year for everyone it's with a heavy heart that the team have to withdraw from the European Championships," Christie said.

"We are devastated as everyone has been working so hard and the team has made massive improvements. However, our health and safety must be our number one priority.

"There was also a significant risk that our preparations for the World Championships in February would have been severely impacted by the potential travel disruption."

Sportsbeat 2021