TV Guide: Team GB struck gold but too many medals have been slip slidin’ away

Sir David Tanner, British Rowing’s performance director during their golden years, had a caveat when predicting success: it was not the number of medals that mattered most, though Olympic funding relied on it, but medal chances. You have to be in it to win it.

How do we evaluate Britain’s success as the 25th Winter Olympics closes today? Three golds is two more than they have ever won at a Games and builds on the record five medals, of lesser metals, won in 2014 and 2018. If it looks as if they will be at the lower end of Team GB’s ambitious target of 4-8 medals, consider that they have had five fourth places. The nearer your destination, the more you’re slip-slidin’ away, as Paul Simon, that noted big air enthusiast, once sang.

There was a guaranteed medal in the curling last night, and hope in today’s four-man bobsleigh. Germany’s sledders could sweep the podium but Brad Hall’s GB team took bronze at last year’s World Championships and were fourth in this winter’s World Cup series (BBC Two, from 9am). The Games conclude at 1.10pm with the men’s ice hockey final, while the closing ceremony is at 7pm.

Jack Draper’s comeback was also on ice last week. The British No 1 has played only three tour matches since reaching the semi-finals at Queen’s eight months ago, losing in the second round at Wimbledon and withdrawing before the start of his match at the same stage of the US Open with bone bruising in his service arm. He returned three weeks ago for Britain’s Davis Cup tie with Norway, comfortably defeating the world No 329, but then withdrew from a tournament in Rotterdam.

Draper is still entered in this week’s Dubai Championships, where he would be the fourth seed, and he needs to return soon or he will drop significant ranking points. If the former world No 4 is to be seeded for the French Open, he has to start winning again (Coverage from Dubai starts tomorrow, Sky Sports Tennis, from 10am).

Having seen off the cricketing might of Nepal and Italy, England are through to the Super Eights of the T20 World Cup, which is better than Australia have done. Needing to win two more matches to reach the semi-finals, they play Sri Lanka today (Sky Sports Cricket, 9.30am), Pakistan on Tuesday and New Zealand on Friday (both 1.30pm).

Chelsea and Manchester United have contested two of the last three women’s FA Cup finals but meet in the fifth round today. The game at Kingsmeadow is one of four all Women’s Super League ties (TNT Sports 1, 1.30pm), while Oxford, from National League South, fly the flag for tier three against Charlton.

Photograph by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images