Christie back at full tilt after lung cancer scare

Christie became a triple world champion shortly before a lump was discovered in her lung

World champion paddler Kerry Christie has revealed the best season of her career came while juggling long-running health problems and a cancer scare.

The 21-year-old has established herself as Great Britain's leading female in wildwater canoeing, thanks to a rapid rise through the ranks.

But just six months after becoming European under-23 kayak champion, the Leicestershire paddler's ambitions were tempered by health concerns when she began to cough up blood.

"I started coughing up blood at the beginning of 2023 and had various doctors appointments and went to A&E to try and figure out what was causing this," she told BBC Sport.

After several months of tests, Christie's fears grew when she was referred to the lung cancer unit at a Nottingham hospital in August 2023.

"They had discovered a lump in one of my lungs and I had to have MRI scans, biopsies and bronchoscopies, which all came up with nothing."

'I can't tell you how relieved I was'

While tests struggled to find the cause, a lung biopsy did, at least, rule out cancer.

"I can't quite tell you how relieved I was," she said. "I really love canoeing and I was scared that I might have to stop and give up training for a bit, which I would have absolutely hated.

"It's part of who I am and I wouldn't have been me if I had to stop, so I was extremely happy to find out it wasn't something horrible and scary like cancer."

Despite what was going on behind the scenes, on the water Christie continued to prosper in 2023.

Honours that season included, remarkably, three golds among a five-medal haul at that summer's Junior and Under-23 Wildwater Canoeing World Championships in the Czech Republic.

It was Great Britain's first world title at this level for 13 years - yet, still, concerns and uncertainty over her health remained.

"Come the beginning of 2024, I was still coughing blood and this was affecting my training," she said.

"I felt tired a lot of the time and was constantly being disrupted by hospital appointments and coughing blood in the middle of sessions."

Two rounds of antibiotics finally did the trick, leading doctors to believe it was an infection, although Christie still doesn't know for certain the definitive cause.

By the end of March, and for the first time in 16 months, she was free to train and race without anxiety over her health.

"It worked wonders. I felt so relieved and it just made me emotionally better," she said.

"I could now put more of myself back into training and paddling.

"I didn't have to worry about what was wrong with me and whether it was affecting my training, and then therefore my results later in the season."

With the weight lifted - and despite a second successive pre-season having been dogged by health problems - Christie raced to the best season of her career.

It culminated in a senior silver medal in the women's K1 classic at the 2024 World Championships - Great Britain's first medal in that event in 14 years - swiftly followed by a canoe pairs world title with sister Emma.

Kerry (right) and her sister Emma won Great Britain's first senior world championship gold in eight years last season

Her elation was mixed with a debt of gratitude.

"The hospital was really great so I went back to say thank you to the doctor and her team and everyone that helped me so much," she said.

"Without them fixing me I wouldn't have been able to achieve all that I did."

With winter training behind her, Christie now faces the British trials next month ahead of a busy international schedule which includes the European Championships and Sprint World Championships.

But her main target will come at the Under-23 Wildwater World Championships in Slovenia at the start of July.

"My main goals are to win the classic race and make the sprint final, and I'd also like to be top five in the classic at senior Euros," she said.