Elise Christie (born 13 August 1990) is a British former short track speed skater. She was coached by Nicky Gooch and she specialised in the 1000m event. She is ten times a European gold medallist, including two overall European titles in 2015 and 2016. In the 2017 World Championships in Rotterdam she won world titles in the 1000m and 1500m events, as well as the overall gold, the first British woman and first European woman to do so. Early life Christie was born in Livingston, Scotland in 1990. She went to school at St Margaret's Academy in Livingston. Christie later studied in Loughborough College on 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 twelve years old. She then chose to stick with speed skating at the age of fifteen, when she moved to Nottingham to train full-time at the National Ice Centre. She has given her reason for switching her ice discipline as "I just didn't like the fact figure skating has judging. I prefer the first over the line, wins the race." Sporting career European Championships At the 2010 European Short Track Speed Skating Championships in Dresden, Germany, Christie won a silver medal in the 1500m and 3000m, and took the overall bronze medal. At the 2013 European Championships in Malmö, Sweden, Christie won gold in the 1500m and 1000m, and took the overall silver medal behind defending champion Arianna Fontana from Italy. Christie retained her 1000m title from the previous year at the 2014 European Championships in Dresden. She also won a silver medal as part of the British team in the 3000m relay, and narrowly missed out on a medal in the 1500m where she finished fourth. As a result, she took the overall silver medal behind gold medallist Jorien ter Mors from the Netherlands. She claimed her first overall European title at the 2015 European Championships in Dordrecht, Netherlands, after winning gold in the 500m and 1500m and finishing second in the 3000m super final. At the 2016 European Championships in Sochi, Russia, Christie retained her overall European title after winning gold in the 500m, 1000m and 1500m events. Christie did not participate in the 2017 European Championships because she was concentrating on training for the 2017 World Championships. World Championships At the 2013 World Short Track Speed Skating