Winter Olympics 2018: Elise Christie disqualified as her disastrous Olympics comes to an end in worst possible way
The Scot was tipped for multiple gold but will go home empty-handed as her third bid for glory ended in disappointment
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The British speed skater Elise Christie may have entered Pyeongchang as a hot favourite for multiple gold medals but she will leave empty-handed, battered and bruised after another fall and then a disqualification saw her eliminated from the 1000m short-track at the first hurdle.
Christie had already crashed out of the 500m and 1500m but retained hope of medalling and overcoming her Sochi heartbreak that saw three disqualifications.
But after earning a reprieve as her 1000m heat was re-started after her fall, she edged through in second place only for the officials to review race footage and hand her a yellow card - disqualifying her from the race and ending her Winter Olympics.
It was a heartbreaking conclusion to the games for Christie, who came into Pyeongchang as one of Team GB's greatest medal hopes.
Christie was disqualified from the 500m final, the heats of the 1500m and the quarter-finals at Sochi 2014. Those failures fuelled Christie's fire, the 500m world record holder desperate to make up for lost time and medals by blowing away the competition in Pyeongchang while at her peak.
The crashes in the 500m and 1500m last week had been a brutal way to miss out, piling pressure on this final distance for Christie to scratch her Olympic itch. Another crash in this heat had GB fans resigned to another disaster only for a re-start to give her a second chance, a chance she took with both hands.
But, as ever in the life of the 27-year-old Scot, it was never to be that simple.
Christie was adjudged to have committed two penalties, and officials handed her a yellow card that meant disqualification from the heat and a barely believable, utterly distressing ending to her Winter Olympic dream.
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