Team GB speed skater Elise Christie has insisted that she is saddened, and not relieved, by Wang Meng's absence from the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.
Christie, 23, is considered a medal hope in the short track races and her task has been made easier by Wang, a four-time gold medallist, being ruled out through injury.
However, Christie has sympathised with the Chinese athlete due to her own fitness worries heading into the Russian Games, and has stressed that she will be not be taking the rest of her competitors lightly.
"It's very hard to see an athlete miss out so I really feel for her," she told the London Evening Standard.
"I had a crash at the Olympic qualifiers in November and had thought for one moment that my Games were over, which was a horrible feeling. There is still going to be a lot of competition out there so I'm not complacent."
Christie finished third in the 2013 World Short Track Speed Skating Championships in Debrecen.
Joe Fish
