Bad weather sends Alcott off course

Britain's top skier Chemmy Alcott says financial pressures have left her unsure about her future in the sport.

Alcott, who had two top-15 finishes at the Vancouver Games after racing in five events, has been badly affected by Snowsport GB's pre-Olympics collapse.

British skiing's governing body went into administration, leaving Alcott and her team-mates in financial difficulty.

"I feel I'm fighting against everything - it's hard to keep throwing myself into these difficult races," she said.

"I'm out of my money, my sponsors Witan have been so amazing to me over the last nine years but it's a really expensive sport.

"I just don't know where I am going from here.

"I know that I have a lot more to offer to the sport, I know that I can be the best and I still have that belief, it is just finding companies out there that have that belief too."

The British Olympic Association (BOA) intervened to ensure that athletes affected by their governing body's collapse could make it to the Games but that funding runs only until the end of the Winter Olympics.

606: DEBATE Have your say on Alcott's performances

"I think no athlete would choose to deal with that situation once they are racing and in the biggest race of their career but I don't know what is happening from here," said a tearful Alcott after skiing out on her first slalom run.

"I've got one car... I can't afford to have my physio travel with me and I could be the first Brit to reach the (World Cup) finals of the super-G ever.

The 27-year-old, who came close to qualifying for the World Cup, was also critical of the British media's treatment of her performances at the Games.

Alcott finished 11th in super combined, equalling her best Olympic finish, and 13th in downhill but struggled in other disciplines.

"I'm getting a pretty hard time at home and I think that is a very unfair situation," said Alcott.

"I guess (it is) statistic-wise because I got the same results as I did four years ago but in the last four years skiing has got hugely competitive.

"I've been through a really tough journey with my foot surgery and losing my mum and then breaking my ankle last year and losing my funding."

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