Triple world champion became Pizza Hut delivery driver after horrible Winter Olympics ordeal

Elise Christie has been put through the wringer… and then some.

A three-time world champion in speed skating, the Scot could never translate her success into the Olympic arena.

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A fresh-faced Christie went into the 2010 Winter Olympics in Canada with wide eyes and although she didn’t medal, her efforts during the 500m, 1000m and 1500m provided invaluable experience going forward.

The 2014 Games in Sochi was expected to be her big moment having already had a taste of what was required.

But her performances in Russia couldn’t have strayed further from the plan, as Christie was disqualified from the 500m, 1000m and 1500m.

It meant Christie walked away from the Sochi Games without a single piece of hardware and mentally scarred having received death threats over one of the collisions she was involved in.

Speaking to the BBC in 2019, Christie revealed the devastating experience led to depression and self-harm, but a conversation with a psychotherapist helped her recover.

“At my lowest moment I did self-harm – not badly, but I was still doing it because I didn’t know how to cope without it,” Christie said.

“After everything that had happened – and I was on my own – I just couldn’t deal with how I felt anymore.

“Because you have a physical pain, I guess it just takes away the emotional pain. I would never have shared that, I wouldn’t have wanted anyone to know.

“And that’s the point: you can get to these points and you can get out of it – because I have.”

Despite overcoming her traumatic experiences from 2014, more Olympic heartbreak awaited Christie four years later in PyeongChang.

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In the 500m, final, the Scot crashed after she was clipped by Yara Van Kerkhof and ultimately finished fourth, with the Dutchman earning a silver medal.

Christie’s 1500m event was also derailed by a crash, which led to a disqualification and a trip to the hospital having sustained an injury to her right ankle.

Although Christie recovered in time for the 1000m final, she would be disqualified for that race having been deemed guilty of causing two separate collisions.

As the 2022 Winter Olympics loomed, Christie viewed it as a chance to banish the demons of Games past.

Yet she wouldn’t even have the opportunity to do so, as an ankle injury prompted Christie to retire from the sport at age 31.

“Part of my heart will always be missing because I never achieved my end goal,” Christie wrote.

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“But I leave this sport knowing it’s left in good hands, with skaters capable of doing what I didn’t.

“I am not a decorated Olympian, but I am a decorated athlete… I’m sorry I let you all down, and I’m so thankful to so many people.”

Prior to her announcement, Christie left no stone unturned in her attempts to reach Beijing after £8million in funding was cut for winter athletes.

The Scot was pictured working at a Pizza Hut in Nottingham, where she acted as a delivery driver and pizza maker.

But if Christie thought juggling work at Pizza Hut alongside training would be tough, nothing prepared her for the difficulties she’d endure after she hung up the skates.

Speaking on an episode of the BBC’s ‘Not by the Playbook’, Christie opened up on the harsh reality many athletes face once they call time on their careers, with hers being a particularly devastating experience.

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“I ended up having nothing, because I lost my career, came out with no money,” Christie said.

“I was working three jobs. I was literally finishing at three in the morning at one job, having an hour’s sleep in the car and then going to another job.”

Safe to say, Christie was ‘drowning’ under the pressure of trying to stay afloat in life and described herself as a ‘walking zombie’.

Christie added: “I was going from job to job. I was barely sleeping, I wasn’t eating.

“If I look at pictures of myself back then, my eyes are drawn-in. I looked done with life, completely done.”

She ended up in a rehab facility and connected with a psychotherapist, which she credits for helping to ‘really reset’ her.

“I think that was really the thing that changed me,” Christie said.

“I still came out of there with no money. I spent the only savings I did have on going there.

“It was like a new start, I had to start again, build myself back up. I lost my house and everything when I retired.

“But instead of seeing it like I’ve lost everything, so I kind of went, ‘Who am I as a person, not as an athlete, let’s see what life brings now.'”

With her skating career over and in desperate need of income, Christie turned to OnlyFans.

Despite her initial feeling that the site, largely associated with risque material but is also used by athletes who give insights into their lives, wasn’t up her alley, Christie decided to take the plunge.

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Christie uploaded her first pictures before she entered the rehab facility, only to return home with renewed confidence about herself.

“It’s still not my life goal to be on OnlyFans, it’s not what I want to be doing for the rest of my life, it’s not my focus,” Christie said.

“But it’s given me life back. It gave me a period of time to figure myself out.”

Christie added the majority of her requests on the site revolve around sport and people simply wanting to have a chat.

“I just started handling it in the way I want to handle it and it felt powerful to take control of that,” Christie said.

“It’s bought me the time to figure everything out.”