Winter Olympics: Speed skater Elise Christie figures she was wise to switch sports

SHE shunned the grace and elegance of figure skating for the thrills and spills of short track speed skating – but Livingston's Elise Christie has no regrets as she prepares to make her Olympic debut.

Christie, a national age group figure skating champion before switching her sporting ambitions, will compete over 500m, 1000m and her favoured 1500m in Vancouver. And she arrives in Canada brimming with confidence, following her silver medal at the recent European Championships. She was also part of the women's relay team who won gold at the World Championships in 2008.

The 19-year old starts her campaign this weekend but is keeping a level-head about expectations, with Korean, Chinese, American and Canadian skaters expect to dominate.

"After what happened at the Europeans, I'm feeling really good about my chances," she said. "I'm still a junior so my only aims to get out there, enjoy it and hopefully give some people a glimpse of what I can do. I'm still young and maybe I lack some racing experience but that will come with time and this is such a great opportunity to have. As a team we're getting much better with every year we are together.

"Over the last few years the coaching has really improved and hopefully that will pay off in Vancouver and beyond."

Opening event: Short Track Women's 500m heats: Sunday, 13 February, 1.45am (GMT)