Winter Olympics: Skier Charlie Guest goes from quitting to Beijing

Charlie Guest is due to compete in the women's slalom in Beijing

Six weeks out from the Winter Olympics four years ago, Charlie Guest was struggling to walk.

Recurring problems from breaking her back in 2014 were wreaking havoc on her body, morale was at rock bottom, and her entire focus was just making it to the starting gate in Pyeongchang to make her Olympic debut.

"At the start of the second slalom run I was like: 'Get me out of here, this is horrible.' I'd never felt the pressure, disappointment, shame anything like I did in the starting gate on that second run."

Guest finished 33rd, a result that marked the start of a slide which led to her giving up on skiing at the end of that year. While on her own in Austria doing rehab, she phoned her coach in the United States to say: "I can't do this any more."

Now, the Scot is in the form of her life as she prepares to compete at her second Games in Beijing, having also managed to get to grips with an auto-immune condition, which she was diagnosed with in 2019.

"It's a cool journey to look back on," Guest tells BBC Scotland. "Even if it wasn't so fun in the moment and there were times when I thought about sacking it all in.

"But we've made it and we're definitely getting the rewards now so I'm just super proud of everyone."

'It was the lowest I've been'

The roots of Guest's journey from near-retirement to Olympics begin with the back injury she suffered in 2014, breaking four vertebrae after going off-piste during a training run 11 weeks before she was due to make her World Championship debut.

Remarkably she was back in seven weeks and made the Worlds, but the effects of the injury would niggle away at her in spells for the next four years, culminating in a miserable end to 2018.

"Personal life was terrible, coaching and professional side of things wasn't going well. My back was not happy," Guest explains.

"It was probably one of the lowest points I've ever been in. To the point I was out in Austria doing rehab by myself and I just phoned my coach and I was like: 'The car is in the airport car park in Munich, I've paid for it for a month, I am done.'"

She went home to Scotland distraught and tried to come to terms with the end of her career.

"I was in tears for days and just in bed the whole time. My sister would knock on the door and be like: 'I think you should maybe go outside today.'"

Luckily, GB Snowsports facilitated her going to a physical rehabilitation clinic in London, which proved a major turning point.

"I walked in there like, okay I'll do this rehab and at least I'll be healthy and I can continue being active and not be hurting. I walked in the first day and the physio was like: 'So how are you? How's your life going?' And I just burst into tears.

"I look back and see it as a little bit of a new beginning. It was a hard reset. It was like we need to build up from the bottom."

The clinic helped her get her body and mind right, and five weeks later Guest was on the slopes again and skiing well. Still, in her mind she was retiring at the end of the season to go to university and study physiotherapy.

But as European Cup podiums came and the momentum continued to build, she had a change of heart. The focus on enjoyment rather than results proved rewarding, she found a new coach and got the backing of GB Snowsports.

"This whole transformation definitely started with: 'I don't care any more.' I'm a good person no matter my results. My results don't reflect who I am. I think separating the ski racing side of Charlie and the person Charlie was really important.

"Going back into education [to study psychology at Aberdeen University] was one of the best things I've done because it's given me an identity that wasn't just an athlete. It gave me a bit of headspace to know I've got a future that isn't just skiing."

'I woke up and my shoulder was on fire'

But the road to Beijing has had other difficulties along the way.

In 2019, having battled back from injury and turmoil, Guest was diagnosed with palindromic rheumatism, a condition that causes unexpected attacks on joints by the body's immune system.

"I was in New Zealand for training camp and woke up randomly one evening with a shoulder that was on fire. I thought maybe I was just stressed, and it went away within 24 hours so it was fine.

"Then about a week later the same thing happened on the other shoulder and I phoned my physio and I was like: 'There's something going on here and I have no idea what's happening.'

"It was a frightening time and another setback to battle past. It was another really hard thing to take. I'd come through this journey with my back, my mental health and worked out a formula that was working.

"In my mind, I was this resilient individual, [and] super strong athlete who could get through anything. And then suddenly this real health issue came along which I couldn't fix by going to the physio or to the gym. It took a lot of time to process that."

Medication and an understanding of some of the things that cause flare-ups in her condition mean Guest and her team have been able to manage it. And, despite everything, results have been strong, with three top-20 finishes at World Cup events in 2022.

She credits her team for picking her up off the canvas and getting to the point where expectations for the Olympics are positive.

There is still a dream to sneak into the top 10 and push for a medal in the slalom, while looking to improve on Britain's fifth place in the team event four years ago.

"I keep on saying it's nice coming into an Olympics in form," Guest says. "A top-15 [finish] would be something that is definitely achievable. Which would be a great improvement on my 34th or whatever it was in Pyeongchang.

"I think that's what I've got to go in there with, but know anything can happen on the day. Weird things happen at the Olympics, that's all I'll say on that."