‘I felt victim-shamed’ – Team GB short track speed skater Elise Christie says she was raped aged 19
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ByEurosport
Published 21/10/2021 at 10:46 GMT
"I’ve always talked about the fact that I want to help people. There are so many women who have gone through or who might be going through this same situation right now and won’t speak up either," reveals Christie ahead of the release of her autobiography, 'Resilience'. Christie will target a first Olympic medal in Beijing next year after missing out in Vancouver, Sochi and Pyeongchang.
Elise Christie
Image credit: Getty Images
Britain’s triple short track speed skating world champion Elise Christie has said she was raped aged 19.
Christie had just returned from the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics when her drink was spiked at a bar in Nottingham.
Her attacker bundled her into a taxi, took her back to his house and forced her to have sex.
Christie, now 31, says she visited a doctor in the days following the assault but did not report it to the police.
"There are not many people I’ve spoken to about it - I had to even tell my mum because she wasn’t aware," Christie told Telegraph Sport.
"I felt victim-shamed, almost, by what happened. I wasn’t left in a bush, battered and beaten up, so back then I thought: ‘It’s not rape.’"
Christie first shared details of the assault a year later after a chance brief encounter with her attacker led to her having a panic attack.
"For me it was a big step to even talk about the assault in the first place," she said.
"I’ve always talked about the fact that I want to help people. There are so many women who have gone through or who might be going through this same situation right now and won’t speak up either."
Christie, whose autobiography ‘Resilience’ is released on Thursday, has previously spoken about her mental health struggles and self-harming.
Next year, the 10-time European champion will aim to end her wait for an Olympic medal at Beijing 2022.
A series of crashes and disqualifications derailed her charges at Sochi 2014 and Pyeongchang 2018, events which led to her facing a torrent of social media abuse and death threats.
"In Beijing, honestly it's just about finishing the competition," she said.
"There is not one distance at the Olympic Games that I have finished. I know that physically I'm not going to be what I was, but I still have the ability to medal. But it won't just be about medalling.
"I also want to be the girl who helped others turn their lives around and the girl who has turned her life around and has come back. That's why I try to set that example."
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