Short-track speed skater Elise Christie has admitted that she was delighted with her performance in her opening race of the 500m at the Winter Olympics.
Christie set a new Olympic record in her heat, but the mark only lasted for 15 minutes as South Korea's Choi Min-jeong recorded a new best time.
However, after suffering a triple disqualification in Sochi four years ago, Christie has acknowledged that she was pleased to 'make a statement' in her first outing in Pyeongchang.
The 27-year-old told BBC Sport "I'm not going to lie, I don't think I've been as nervous as that for about six years. I think because everybody back home has been so excited to see me skate again, I thought, 'maybe I can't do this.' But I did.
"Racing hasn't gone well this year because of injuries so I wanted to put a statement out there to say, 'I'm back, I think I've showed them'.
"My best race is the 1,000m so I'm trying to build into that really. I'm not quite at full fitness yet. I just want to get it done and go out there and do it again. I feel quite good. It's going to be tough though. It's about getting the preparation in between done properly."
The quarter-finals of the 500m take place on Tuesday.
Darren Plant
