Paisley’s Mark Hanretty admits he and partner Christina Chitwood are victims of their own success after Home Office officials crushed their Winter Olympics dream.

The 24-year-old feared for his Games place after the National Ice Skating Association banned American-born partner Christina Chitwood from March's World Championships due to her lack of a British visa.

The duo had originally set their sights on debuting at the 2014 Olympics in Russia, before attempting to fast-track their appearance after establishing themselves as Britain's second-best pairing behind Sinead and John Kerr.

Chitwood married Englishman Tom Parkin in early August but was told by Whitehall officials to apply for a marriage visa before obtaining indefinite leave to remain and waiting two-and-a-half years for UK citizenship.

And Hanretty, who secured a top-eight finish with Chitwood at the Olympic-qualifying Nebelhorn Trophy in September, admits the speed of their progress has been their downfall.

"We were targeting not this Winter Olympics but the next one," said Hanretty.

"But it still hurts and we're still extremely frustrated with the way it has turned out.

"We obviously don't agree with the ruling but it has been set in stone and we move on.

"Christina got married in the summer but she hasn't been granted a visa so they won't let us compete.

"We knew the problem that Christina would have but we were expecting to be in the frame for 2010 - it was only when we were and Christina was married that we got our hopes up.

"We looked at all our options and whether we could get it fast-tracked but it soon became clear that we couldn't.

"We're still committed to competing and competing with each other so we have to pick each other up and move on."