Staff GB have by no means made something greater than the occasional ripple on the Winter Olympics. Which makes the prediction of Eve Muirhead, Britain’s chef de mission on the Milano Cortina Video games, somewhat extraordinary.
“I consider that we’re taking probably the most potent groups of athletes that we now have taken to a Winter Olympic Video games,” she says. “We’ve got the potential to disrupt the norm.”
That norm, between 1952 and 2010, was simply 12 medals in 16 Winter Video games. Then got here a surge, with 5 medals in Sochi in 2014 and 5 in Pyeongchang in 2018, earlier than Britain received simply two medals in Beijing. However Muirhead, who led the ladies’s curling group to Staff GB’s solely gold 4 years in the past, senses that new floor can be damaged by the 53 British athletes over the following 16 days.
“I see a set of athletes with an actual pedigree when it comes to current ends in the winter circuit,” she says. “And whereas we’re a nation that already punches properly above our weight, given the relative lack of snow and ice, I consider this group has the potential to essentially disrupt the pure order of huge winter nations.”
UK Sport, which has invested £25.5m throughout winter sports activities for the 2022-26 cycle, has set a objective of 4 to eight medals. However it’s clear that Muirhead needs to be proper on the high finish of that focus on.
“As a nation we’re nonetheless an rising challenger in lots of winter sports activities and a part of our ambition on the Video games is to point out we’re a reputable group throughout all disciplines,” she provides. “And I firmly consider we can be.”
There’s definitely vital proof behind her optimism. Within the weeks earlier than the Video games, GB Snowsports’ Mia Brookes, Kirsty Muir and Zoe Atkin all received X Video games titles, whereas Charlotte Bankes received her first World Cup race since breaking her collar bone.
Within the males’s skeleton, Matt Weston and Marcus Wyatt have received all seven World Cup races this season and, in accordance with the bookies, the lads’s and blended curling groups are additionally favourites to win a medal.
It helps that further sources have additionally been pumped into technological improvements. On the College of Bathtub a flight simulator has been transformed to simulate any skeleton monitor internationally, permitting the group to get hours of additional apply on the run they’ll encounter in Cortina.
Weston and Wyatt are additionally ready to see whether or not they’ll be capable of use their new aerodynamic helmets, which might give them an excellent larger benefit. “We attempt to push the boundaries and discover these positive aspects, that is simply one of many elements of innovation we do as GB and I feel we do it fairly properly,” says Weston.
Wyatt, in the meantime, is hopeful the helmet can be cleared. “We consider it’s authorized, it’s at the moment being debated. All of our success has been with our present helmet, so for me it’s the tiniest little factor within the background.”
In the meantime, in sports activities the place velocity is the foremost issue, particular tech skinsuits have been launched to scale back drag in competitors, permitting athletes to go quicker.
The nice unknown, in fact, is what different nations have deliberate. “We all know that in a few of these sports activities, significantly the sliding sports activities, the Germans run an R&I programme which is price tens of millions,” says UK Sport’s head of efficiency, Kate Baker. “They might pull one thing out on the day.
“I feel when you spend any time hanging round any of our sports activities, not simply the winter sports activities, you will notice that they’re all consistently taking a look at what all people else is doing. I wouldn’t go as far as to say that it’s an arms race. It’s positively an experience race, although.
“The place different nations have a sliding monitor, or a ski slope on their doorstep, they’re able to do the sort of behind-closed-doors stuff that we will do extra simply in biking than we will in winter sports activities.”
However for all of the emphasis on tech and expertise, these competing know their probabilities might come all the way down to a fortunate break or how they deal with the strain.
“None of us actually wish to make the Olympics an enormous factor, however it’s in actuality and there’s no hiding that,” says Brookes, the 19-year-old who might find yourself successful two medals and being Britain’s greatest star at these Video games.
“I’ve been scared that I’ll go to the Olympics, do the most effective I can, and it not be sufficient. You realize the entire world’s going to be watching, and that positively provides extra strain.”
Muirhead agrees. “Lots of these athletes have 20-30 seconds of competitors. Then there’s the jeopardy of winter sports activities. A improper edge, that may very well be it over. It comes all the way down to millimetres, milliseconds. However let’s simply sort of hope we’re on the precise aspect of the inch.”
Staff GB will hope to get off to a powerful begin on Monday with Muir and Brookes going for gold within the ski slopestyle and snowboard massive air respectively, whereas the blended curling group will goal to be competing within the semi-finals.
No matter occurs, Muirhead expects the nation to shortly renew its once-every-four-year fling with winter sports activities. “What does the Winter Olympics not have?” she asks. “You’ve obtained velocity, aptitude and I suppose a little bit of chaos thrown in as properly. And that’s what folks love to observe on TV.”
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