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IN A SPIN
I was a world champion speed skater – but now I’m much happier making a fortune on OnlyFans
Elise has been to hell and back in the last decade.
IT HAS been a decade since speed skater Elise Christie crashed out of the Winter Olympics and became a target for trolls who sent her life spiralling out of control.
The former world champion was left suicidal after being sent death threats over her failure to win gold in 2014 when a collision saw her dumped from the 500m short-track final and ended her dreams in Sochi, Russia.
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After being disqualified again four years later in South Korea following collisions, the 33-year-old retired in 2021 and struggled with self-harm, alcoholism and homelessness.
But despite the sport she shed blood, sweat and tears for leaving her empty-handed, she has finally found happiness after meeting partner Connor Thomson, becoming a mum and joining OnlyFans — where she is raking in the most money she has ever made.
Elise, 33, from Livingston, says: “I worked hard my entire life and became penniless. I dedicated my life to the sport and came out with nothing. I was on less than minimum wage when you work out the hours I was putting in.
“When I won the World Championships in 2017 the prize was £5,000.
“Now I love being a mum. I didn’t know I wanted it at the time but now I know becoming mum was actually exactly what I wanted.”
Elise started out as a figure skater but switched to speed skating at the age of 12 and excelled at it.
She moved to Nottingham to train at the National Ice Centre full-time aged 15 and dreamed of being the best in the world.
The sportswoman began racking up medals at European events and had high hopes of more gongs at the Winter Olympics in 2014.
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But those ambitions were tested to the limit when three crashes in three races saw her disqualified and leave without any silverware.
Criticism came pouring in on social media after fans blamed her for one of the collisions, which ruined the chances of South Korean hopeful Park Seung-hi.
When she failed to right those wrongs four years later, Elise walked away due to injury. Back in England, she began to self-harm, then, following the death of a close friend in 2021, she started to drink heavily.
Struggling to pay the bills or mortgage, her house had to be sold.
Sleeping in her car and working three jobs to pay the bills, she wasn’t sure how to survive.
At her lowest ebb, she questioned whether life was worth living and didn’t know where to turn.
In 2022, she hit rock bottom when she was arrested during a drinking binge. The next morning she walked two miles in the rain to the nearest hospital to beg for help.
Elise, who has been diagnosed as having bipolar disorder, found her feet after meeting game farmer Connor — who she describes as the love of her life — in rehab last year.
Elise says: “I do have so many regrets. But I wouldn’t have what I have now otherwise. I was done with life. I had no goals for the future. I wasn’t interested in having a boyfriend or moving forward.
“Then I met Connor and started to believe everything happens for a reason. Happiness doesn’t come from medals.”
Until that point, her whole life had been about skating and she didn’t realise just how much the sport made her suffer.
She said: “Skating was treating my illness for a long time. Even though I didn’t self-harm until the age of 27, skating was a form of self-harm as I was pushing myself into the ground.
“Even when I became world champion and crossed the finishing line celebrating, I was already wondering what was next.
“My mum got a picture of that moment and said I was happy but I wasn’t. It was a fake smile.
“It’s alien to me that I’m content living a normal life being a mum and not proving to people I’m the best at something.”
It was a surprise when Elise and Connor learned she was expecting Millie, now eight weeks old, but it helped the former elite skater turn her life around.
The new mum said: “I was worried about being bipolar, when people talk about postnatal issues.
“But you have to be strong and do the right things for her.
“She definitely helps. If I do feel I’m having a wobbly day, I can switch it now so I can control it. I learned from rehab that you need to take control of mental illness.
“I kept saying I didn’t think I was maternal. But right away I just naturally knew what I was doing.
“I didn’t want kids. I was very selfish about my life because I travelled a lot and I was getting older.
“I was quite conscious about my body and was proud of my athletic figure so it was never on the cards.”
When times were particularly tough, Elise had to find a new way to pay the bills after retiring from skating.
Out of necessity, she joined OnlyFans where subscribers paid to see a different side of the sportswoman.
At first she hated the fact that posting risqué content was the only way she’d make ends meet.
But now it’s a fully fledged business she can run out of her own bedroom — and she makes far more money from the racy site than she ever did on the ice.
The adult model, who wants to train in hair and beauty, says: “It’s my body, I worked for this body, I didn’t just get given it.
“So the way I see it is that I’m making money out of what I worked for. You’re in control of what you do and how far you want to go.
“It took me a while to get braver with the stuff I was doing and open up about it. It was scary the first time. Now I’m in a place where I’m not worried.
“It’s only the social media stuff I find a bit difficult. I’ve found taking a step away from social media is good for me.
“So I promote it but I’m not reading comments and thinking about what everybody is saying. And now I make more from OnlyFans than what I made when I was working three jobs.”
Elise hopes OnlyFans will set her family up for life. She adds: “I always say to Connor that I don’t think I’m attractive and wonder why people are paying.
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“I need to make sure I’m camera ready and some days I spend six or seven hours constantly working.
“I don’t see OnlyFans as a forever thing. But I can see it benefiting my future life. It’s the first time in my life I’ve been truly happy.”
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