Winter Olympics 2014: British skier Chemmy Alcott pulls out of super combined slalom event to focus on Wednesday's downhill event

Alcott finished 16th in the downhill event - the first half of the super combined event - and will return to the slopes in her quest for gold later in the week

Chemmy Alcott has pulled out of the super combined skiing event to focus on Wednesday's downhill event (GETTY IMAGES)

British veteran skier Chemmy Alcott has decided to pull out of Monday afternoon's slalom race in the Winter Olympics super combined to focus her efforts on the downhill event on Wednesday.

It was expected that the 31-year-old would pull out after competing in the downhill part of the event on Monday morning as she does not want to take on too much, after a third leg break of her career suffered in August nearly ended her hopes of competing in her fourth Winter Olympics.

The Londoner admitted she felt downbeat after pulling out but remains confident she can deliver a good performance in Wednesday downhill event.

“I'm going to pull out of the slalom because my downhill actually went so well, I want to focus on the downhill in two days,” she said.

“It's gutting because I'm in a really nice position now, but I have to think about where my strengths lie this week and they definitely lie in the speed disciplines.

“If I'd had a poor downhill then I'd like to have had a go - depending on how my leg feels, but I have to be sensible now.

“I know that I can ski better than that, so the downhill should be pretty great.”

Alcott started fifth at the Rosa Khutor Alpine Center and her time of one minute 44.83 seconds was enough for 16th place, leaving her delighted.

“It was phenomenal,” she said.

“To get into a race environment, after what I've been through, I knew starting number five people would be watching me and I had to up my game.

“I'm really happy with that.

“There were a couple of turns up there that really challenged my leg, so I just had to muscle through them and know where my strengths are, and charge it where I can.”