Elise Christie isn’t done yet with the Olympics, indeed she is targeting a medal in two disciplines at Beijing 2022.

She could, of course, be forgiven for wanting to turn her back on the five-ringed circus forever.

Had she won a medal at these Games then she admits she probably would have hung up her skates and walked away from the sport for good.

And after disappointments in Sochi and now PyeongChang, she admits to occasionally feeling hatred for her sport – but the desire to fulfil her aim of winning an Olympic medal remains so strong that she says she will be back for a third attempt in 2022.

Perhaps that’s why she’s looking at long track speed skating as a safer alternative to the dizzying dash of short track.

It pits skaters against the clock, not each other, and Christie admits she’d consider moving outside the UK to pursue the ambition.

Long track speed skating has been part of the Olympics since 1924 and is considered the sport of skating purists.

Short track is the younger sibling, an aggressive upstart that’s only been part of the Games since 1992, which was the last time Team GB had a long track speed skater, Scotland's Craig McNicoll.

“It’s gone through my mind for many years and I’ve done it as part of my training,” said Christie.

“It’s an easier sport for sure, whoever goes the fastest wins and unless you make a silly mistake you aren’t going to get a penalty.

“Long track isn’t funded so I’d have to move abroad but it is certainly something that has crossed my mind.

“It’s a lot to think about but it’s still skating and that is the sport that I love.

“It’s not off the cards and I’ll be looking into it. If I did do it, I’d probably try and do both long and short track. I still want that Olympic medal in short track because it’s the only thing I don’t have. I would come back and do both happily.”

Christie’s injury means she will miss the defence of her world titles in Montreal next month, but she also claims her passion for the sport has almost been reinvigorated by the events of recent days.

Had she achieved her goals here, she admits her original intention was to retire from skating, now though, that plan is on a four-year hold.

“I probably wanted to retire if I’m honest,” she added.

“I thought I’d medal and then I could step back because I’d achieved I wanted, maybe I could have a go at another sport.

“My last goal in short track is to be an Olympic champion, there was nothing else to do if I’d achieved that here.

“It didn’t work out and while I’ve thought about other sports, my heart lies with short track. I hate that people see the sport in such a negative light because of what’s happened to me.

“As much as I hate the sport too at some points, I’ve worked so hard to be here and I’m getting better and faster every year. I’ve got four years to make sure I’m on that podium.

“The focus is definitely Beijing, obviously there will be speed bumps over the next few months. I still can’t believe that the Olympics has ended like this.

“This sport deserves something better and if I can get that medal then more people will want to come and do it and that will breed more medallists in the future.”

Having crashed out of her first two events, Christie tackled the 1000m despite having suffered a bad ankle injury and somehow finished second in her heat – only for a yellow card from the judge to end her Games.

And after being trolled four years ago in Sochi, she’s been heartened by the positive messages of encouragement from back home.

"The support back home is what has kept me going," said Christie. "It has kept my head up.

"I am determined after every message I have received of support that I need to do this. I need to do it for the sport and I want to do it.”

And she insists that she is in a better place now than she was after Sochi and is determined not to let her failure on the Olympic stage define her.

She added: “After Sochi the problem was I defined myself on what others were saying about me and about one competition that hadn’t gone well.

“That destroyed me and I ended up depressed and battling through so many mental problems, and it is only really in the last year and a half that I have come back to being Elise again.

“I will not be defined by what happened over these three distances, I have multiple World Championship golds, never mind just medals, and over ten times European champion.”

Time will tell what the Olympic gods have in store for her in four years’ time.