WHEN Charlie Guest first appeared on the international scene, she was known for being the skier who’d recovered from a broken back. 

These days, however, her outstanding recent form has ensured she is now known primarily for being Britain’s best female slalom skier for a generation. 

It is, admits Guest, a welcome shift to be talked about for her performances on the slopes rather than her miraculous recovery from serious injury. 

And as she heads into her second Olympic Games, she could not have timed her rise any better. 

Last month, in her final competitive appearance before Beijing 2022, she wrote herself into the record books by finishing in 13th place in the Schladming World Cup in Austria, the best finish by a British woman in a World Cup race for fifty years, backing up a string of World Cup top 20 results this season. 

It was the perfect confidence boost ahead of Guest’s second Olympics having made her debut in Pyeongchang four years ago and she admits she could not have hoped to be in a better mindset than she currently is. 

“I’m feeling really positive and I’m very happy with how the season has gone,” says the 28-year-old. 

“The past three seasons I’ve not had any major dramas and since October 2019, things have gone from strength to strength starting with Europa Cup podiums to World Cup points to consistent World Cup top 20s so it’s been a really nice progression and it shows that I’ve put in the work and from that, the results are coming. 

“I’ve got a basic level now of physical ability and skiing ability that I know is there and there’s such a confidence that comes with that.  

“Now, I know my skiing is good enough and will get me the results I want and so learning to believe in that has been a real game-changer over the past few months.” 

Guest’s current injury-free status is a far cry from the almost constant battle she was forced to endure in her early career. 

In 2014, as a 20-year-old, she suffered a fall in training, fracturing four vertebrae in her spine. 

A lengthy rehabilitation process followed, with the after-effects of the Perthshire skier’s injury lingering for many years, with her build-up to the 2018 Winter Olympics severely marred by so many injury worries that she was far from her best when she arrived in Pyeongchang and as a result, her Olympic debut was nothing like the thrilling experience she had hoped for. 

“On Boxing Day four years ago, I couldn’t walk. I could hardly stand up without almost passing out. 

“So ahead of the 2018 Games, it was purely about proving I was fit enough to still go and so when I got to the Olympics, it was an “oh, sh*t” moment knowing I absolutely wasn’t prepared for it.” 

Her back injury is, admits Guest, something she must remain mindful of but nevertheless, she has been in the shape of her life this season, with her impressive performances down, in large part, to the fact she has not been forced to spend significant amounts of time and energy patching herself up. 

And so the stark difference is she has arrived at this Olympic Games with an optimistic outlook, which is something of a new experience for her. 

“I’ve never had this feeling of going into an Olympics feeling well prepared and like I can really do something,” she says. 

“The four years between breaking my back in 2014 and Pyeongchang in 2018 I remember as being pretty rubbish whereas I’ll look back on these past four years as everything having gone so much better and that’s something me and my team can be really proud of.” 

Guest hails from a family of skiers; growing up in Perth, she and her three siblings spent many a weekend at their grandmother’s house in the Cairngorms, which is where Guest, and her younger sister, Katie, who is also an international skier, honed their skills. 

The Olympic Games will not mark the end of Guest’s season, with the remaining few World Cup races and the World Cup finals still to come.  

Guest currently sits in 25th place in the World Cup standings and if she can remain there, will become the first female British slalom skier in her lifetime to qualify for the finals. 

First, however, is the small matter in hand of making a mark on the Olympic stage. 

Guest will begin her slalom campaign in the early hours of tomorrow morning, alongside fellow Scot, Alex Tilley, with American superstar, Mikaela Shiffrin hot favourite to regain the title she won in 2014. 

Guest is all too aware that competing in such a volatile event as the slalom means setting concrete targets is always tricky but nevertheless, she is quick to stress that she is in Beijing with lofty ambitions. 

“For me, a top-15 placing would be excellent,” she says.  

“Despite Pyeongchang being a bit of a negative experience in terms of my performance there, having experienced what an Olympics is like and being able to go into this one knowing what to expect has been a massive thing and really helpful. 

“So I’m more excited about coming into these Games in such good form than feeling any kind of nerves.”