Short track speed skater Ethan Treacy wants to do his talking on the ice after the disappointment of the sport being one of four to lose its funding for the next Olympic cycle.

UK Sport announced earlier this year that short track speed skating would be stripped of all its funding for the 2022 Winter Olympics after failing to win a medal at the 2018 PyeongChang Games.

And Treacy, the middle sibling of three speed skating brothers from Henley-in-Arden, admitted he was gutted by the decision as it means the number of places in the GB team will be reduced.

The 20-year-old is currently in the midst of pre-season training as he prepares to compete for the one of the qualifying spots at the World Cup events at testing in September.

But rather than dwell on the cut in funding, Treacy has turned his focus to improving every aspect of his performance so he can boost his chances of appearing on the world stage for the first time.

“Testing will decide who goes to the World Cups for the season, but the funding for our programme has been pulled so we have less spots this season,” said Treacy, who lives in Nottingham.

“Last season I was in a position where I was in qualifying spots, but because it was an Olympic season I was kept at home and just went to European competitions instead.

“This year if we were on a normal funding cycle I would have been in a good contention to go, but because they have closed the funding programme there are fewer spots.

“The competition for those spots have become a lot harder now. It was pretty disappointing for the whole programme to be gone as I’ve only spent a year on it as transition.

“My main aim is to qualify for the World Cups as I’ve never been before and once I get there it will be about trying to get the most out of it and be as competitive on that big stage as possible.

“I’m feeling pretty confident as I’m the strongest I’ve ever been and I’m lifting the most weights I have done in the gym, hitting PBs, so I just have to deliver that on the ice.

“From the testing they will take the strongest skaters and the only thing you can do is keep to your basics and keep pushing as hard as you can.

“It doesn’t matter what everyone else does as if I’ve given my all that’s all I can do really and I’ll just have to hope that will be enough.”

Treacy’s cause is also being helped by The Nottingham Building Society, who are teaming up with charity SportsAid to support 50 local athletes as they try to find their ‘time to shine’, with each receiving £750 of funding.

Having already donated £240,000 to SportsAid to help athletes buy equipment, travel to events and receive the training they need to be the best they can, The Nottingham Building Society are now also helping athletes on the path to the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and Paralympics, and beyond.

And Treacy said the support he has received from The Nottingham Building Society was even more important on the back of UK Sport’s decision to withdraw short track speed skating’s funding.

“The funding has been a big help as for this season I’ve bought a new pair of boots and that was largely down to the money from Nottingham Building Society,” he said.

“The boots cost about £1600 and the funding helped take a large chunk out of that, especially with funding being cut as the money is tight now.

“That makes the money from Nottingham Building Society really helpful and it allows me to perform at the higher level.”

Nottingham Building Society and Harrison Murray teamed up with SportsAid in 2013 to help future sports stars get their time to shine. Visit thenottingham.com to find out more.