Elise Christie crashes out again as Olympic heartache continues in Pyeongchang

Elise Christie suffered more Olympic disappointment after crashing out of the women's 500 short-track speed skating final at the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang.

The Briton was in the fight for the medals but slipped on the final lap, as Italy's Arianna Fontana claiming gold.

Pre-race favourite Choi Min-jeong was penalised following a video replay, allowing Yara van Kerhof to win silver and Kim Boutin to scoop bronze.

Edinburgh-born Christie has two further chances to break her Olympic hoodo in the 1,500m and 1,000m later in the Games, but it was another tale of disappointment for Great Britain's premier medal hope.

"I was knocked over, I didn't fall on my own. It's just tough, I worked so hard," she told BBC Sport. "It has been taken away from me. Even in the semi final I got crashed into and ended up in lane four. It is short track and I am supposed to be prepared for this but it hurts.

"Hopefully I can come back again. I can reset. It's almost a week until my best distance. Right now I can't see living with this feeling."

Christie was disqualified three times during her campaign in Sochi in 2014, with her collision in the 500m final exactly four years ago leading to death threats after the incident caused South Korean Park Seung-Hi to crash.

The 27-year-old was later disqualified for not crossing the finishing line in the 1500m and for then colliding with a fellow competitor in the quarter-finals of the 100m.

After undergoing therapy to overcome those struggles, Christie partially exercised her demons from that triple disappointment by claiming three golds at the world championships in Rotterdam last year though she had failed to medal in the corresponding 500m event.

The Scot had qualified through to the latter stages with successive Olympic records in round one and the quarter-final stage.

But her display in the second of the two semi-finals left a lot to be desired as she qualified second in a race she for long periods played second fiddle.

Starting on the outside lane, Christie made an encouraging start in her bid to win her first Olympic medal with the five-women field tightly bunched heading into the final two laps.

But after trying to re-balance herself after being nudged into a marker, she slipped on her left hand down the back straight with two corners remaining and was sent cascading into the barriers.

She did eventually cross the line but after Choi was penalised by the officials is left to consider a fourth place finish.