IF ever proof were needed of the redemptive power of sport, then one need look no further than Elise Christie.

The Scot's disastrous Olympic campaign in Sochi last year was well documented; Christie travelled to Russia last February with three realistic medal chances- the 500m, 1000m and 1500m but she came home with nothing. She was disqualified in all three events with perhaps the sorest exclusion coming in the final of the shortest of the three distances, crossing the finish-line in second place but was subsequently ruled to have been to blame for an earlier crash between a Korean and Italian skater and so was relegated down to eighth position. Christie's interviews in the aftermath of the biggest disappointment of her career were painful to watch; if it is possible to see an athlete's heart break in front of your eyes, we saw it in Christie in those few, distraught words she uttered post-race.

It is moments such as Christie's Olympic travails that make or break sportspeople. For many, it would be the beginning of the end yet Christie has rebounded in such remarkable fashion that the 2015 season was not merely successful, it was record-breaking for the 24 year-old. Just two weeks ago, Christie became the first British woman ever to win two medals at a single World Championships when she won silver in both the 500m and the 1000m in Moscow. She describes her success as unexpected, to say the least. "It was a real shock to find out I was the first British woman to ever do this", she says. "I really didn't think that I would do so well so I'm very happy with that result. My expectations for this season were pretty low because, after Sochi last year, I was really down and I was finding training tough because I was struggling to get motivated. I wasn't trying as hard in training and I think that actually helped me because I relaxed a lot". It was not just Christie's World Championship medals which rendered this season a success though; in January, she became European Champion for the first time ever and then in February, she won World Cup gold.

Christie may not have expected quite this level of success this season but she admits that her Sochi disappointment taught her some valuable lessons which have, in turn, made her a better athlete. "I think the most important thing I learnt was to just try and enjoy it", she says. "Leading up to the Olympics, I was so stressed and really over-thinking things. I learnt in Sochi that it's important to enjoy the good moments instead of getting down on myself. At the Worlds, yeah, maybe I could have won gold but I'm happy with two silvers because it could have ended-up like last year and I could have come home with nothing again".

Christie has improved as a skater in the last year too; previously, she admits to having a laser-like focus on the physical aspects of short-track speed skating and almost completely neglecting tactical nous. The old Christie believed that if she was the fittest and strongest skater in the field then she would win the race. Sochi taught her otherwise. "At the Olympics, I was physically one of the best in the world yet I came home without a medal and that made me realise that maybe it's not all about the physical side", she says. "This year, I'm nowhere near as strong as I was in the previous two seasons but I've had better results. My coach wanted me to not train quite as hard this season to give my body a chance to recover so I've learnt to race a lot better. I've been working on my skills that I needed to improve and that's paid off- I feel like I'm a much more rounded athlete now".

The Scot, who trains at the GB National Centre in Nottingham, believes she has changed as a person in the last year-or-so; she has learned to persevere and to be less emotional about her sport. It is Christie's honesty that is her most striking quality, though. She is a refreshing change from the monotone, media-trained athletes who all too often trot out the official party line. Not Christie though, she wears her heart on her sleeve. "I think people appreciate me showing my emotions and saying exactly how I feel", she says. "I'm much more honest with the media now compared to before and the public have been really supportive of me through the good and the bad".

Christie says that she has, more or less, moved on from Sochi. "Being a full-time athlete is all-consuming- getting over what happened at the Olympics certainly hasn't been easy and it still creeps into my mind from time to time", she concedes. "I'm really just trying to focus on the future now. I'm sure though, that when I finish my career it will start haunting me again but, for the moment, I'm just trying to look forward. I can't change anything that happened last year now".

Christie's goals for the next couple of seasons are to win the World Cup title, perhaps to win another European title but primarily, she just wants to work on becoming a more rounded athlete. You sense that Christie already has one eye on the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang. It will be a different Christie who competes in South Korea compared to Sochi. With her skating ability coupled with her new, improved mindset, the result is likely to be different too.