Thomson backing 'focused' year out to harden her for Beijing battle

Kathryn Thomson reckons riding the rocky speed skating rollercoaster has revitalised her bid for Winter Olympic glory. Thomson, from Kilmarnock, will spearhead Team GB's three-strong short track squad in Beijing as she takes to the ice for her second Games. Ad/> But it's been a far from straightforward four-year cycle since PyeongChang 2018, with the Scot taking a year out of the sport to banish her mental demons and get her career back on track.

Beijing 2022‘Athlete life can be lonely, we’re really lucky’ — Kersten and Smeding are teammates on and off ice4 HOURS AGO The skates are now strapped firmly back on and with under ten days until she competes in the Chinese capital, Thomson is determined to complete ‘unfinished business' ahead of Beijing 2022 and beyond. The 26-year-old, whose journey to the Games has been fuelled by a £20,000 injection of funding to short track speed skating via UK Sport’s Beijing Support Fund, said: «These past four years have been very bumpy for many different reasons. »Last season I took the whole season out of sport — I stayed home and focused on other things off the ice.

«My base level of fitness, my robustness around injury and a little bit of mental health — overall wellness. »I moved back in Kilmarnock. I worked in Dunelm — it was very different from being an athlete.

From a mental point of view, it was a huge breath of fresh air. «It was a very focused year off — I had clear goals and there were different things I wanted to work on so I made sure I was still very disciplined so that my comeback wasn't as difficult. »It was a huge concern and multiple times during the year off I did doubt myself.