Short track skater Elise Christie admitted she had enjoyed the perfect warm up for the World Cup Series as she picked up three golds and the overall title at the Invitation Cup in Heerenveen.
The tournament in Holland gave Britain’s skaters the chance to not only compete on the ice internationally for the first time this season but also step up their preparations for the opening World Cup event in Salt Lake City from November 7-9.
And Christie, who represented Team GB at the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics, did not disappoint, topping the overall classification on points.
An opening day win in the 1500m was followed up by golds in the 500m and the 1000m leaving her to take her fifth consecutive win at the competition.
Next month sees her come up against her main competition in the form of the Korean, Chinese and Canadian skaters and Christie, winner of world 500m silver earlier this year, admitted it had been good to try out a few new moves.
“It was great to be back competing this weekend and to come away with a good result,” she said.
“The first international race of the season is always a challenge, as you are going into it blind without really knowing who your key competition is, but I was confident amongst the other skaters and was able to use it as an opportunity to try different tactics and sharpen my skills.
“I will try to take as much as I can from here and build on it going into Salt Lake City.”
© Sportsbeat 2014