Andrew Young admitted a recent bout of Covid has robbed him of his physical shape but still believes his performances will pick up as the Olympics goes on.
Now a four-time Olympian, the Huntly star tested positive three weeks ago despite fleeing to the Norwegian mountains in a desperate bid to avoid contracting the virus.
Young arrived in Beijing late and stepped on competitive skis for the first time in the qualification for the sprint freestyle at high altitude in Zhangjiakou.
The 29-year-old finished 36th, negotiating the 1.5km course in a time of 2:55.60, leaving him six places and 1.16 seconds shy of progression to knockout finals.
“It was quite a good race, I think,” said Young, who only entered the closed loop in Beijing on Saturday, several days later than team-mates.
“I skied quite well technically and felt quite good on the skis. I managed to push quite well.
“Obviously I'm three weeks away from having Covid so my top physical shape just isn't there. I'm missing the speed and missing what I need to go through in the qualification.
“I'm actually quite pleased with how I skied and I'm on track to keep improving.”
Ordinarily, Young would expect to compete in the upper reaches of the sprint field having won World Cup silver and bronze medals in December 2020.
The Scot recovered quickly from Covid symptoms - that were serious for a couple of days - but managed to attend an altitude training camp in Switzerland before heading to China.
Young’s main target at the Games was the team sprint event alongside debutant James Clugnet.
Clugnet struggled badly in his first Olympic race, trailing more than a second behind Young and coming home ten places off qualifying.
“That was a hard one, not quite the race that I was hoping to do,” said Clugnet.
“The fact it didn't work, we'll have to talk a bit about it with my coaches. I've always performed my best at championships, so it's a bit boring that today it didn't work out.
“We'll try to do better on team sprint next week and it can only go better from here.”
Young also clung on to optimism that his fitness will improve and he can register a good result alongside Clugnet in Sunday’s event.
“I think I'll get better and better the further I get away from illness,” said Young.
“I'll get better every day that goes by and today's race will make me better in the following races. I'm looking forward to getting stuck in and I've got three events left.
“I'm really looking forward to the team event with Jimmy, I'll keep my head down, keep working and hope to get better every day.”
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