The Brits aiming for new peaks at Winter Olympics

Team GB are hoping for a best ever medals tally at this month’s Winter Olympics Games which officially open on Friday. UK Sport is estimating that Great Britain could win between four and eight medals, with the five-medal haul from Sochi 2014 and Pyeongchang 2018 being GB’s previous best.

The last Winter Olympics was disappointing for Britain as they managed only two medals – a gold in the women’s team curling and silver in the men’s event.

The feeling around Team GB is that in the past, their performances have been somewhat inconsistent. Even when they have gone into Winter Olympics’ with strong medal hopes, the actuality has left a lot to be desired. Now the hope is that with a more extensive group, they will see better returns.

Curling will continue to be a key medal hope. The men’s side narrowly missed out on gold in 2022, following a dramatic extra-end final against Sweden, but the same group will return to try and upgrade their medal. It is all change on the women’s side however, with only Jennifer Dodds returning to lead the team. 2022 curling skip Eve Muirhead has retired and is acting as the Chef de Mission for Team GB.

There is also a lot of optimism around Team GB’s chances in the skeleton. Matt Weston will be hoping he can make good on his results at Skeleton World Championships after a disappointing 15th placed finish at the 2022 Olympics. COVID-19 was a big factor in this underperformance, with the UK not having a skeleton track limiting the ability of Weston to practice. Since then he has become World Champion twice. He is the first British man to manage the feat. He will be competing against compatriot Marcus Wyatt who won silver at last year’s World Championships, finishing only 1.9 seconds behind Weston.

A big change that has taken place since the last Olympic cycle is the integration of the skeleton teams and bobsleigh teams. The men’s four-man bobsleigh won bronze at last year’s World Championships, led by veteran Brad Hall. Hall has been to the past two Winter Olympics, and will be competing in both the two-man and four-man bobsleigh.

Snowsports have not traditionally been a fruitful source of medals for Great Britain, but there are a number of participants worth keeping an eye on this year. Zoe Atkin knows what it means to win at a Winter Olympics, after her sister Izzy won Great Britain’s first skiing medal when she took bronze in PyeongChang in 2018. Atkin is the current halfpipe World Champion and recently took gold in the superpipe at the Winter X Games. However, she will face a tough battle with China’s Eileen Gu who became the youngest Olympic champion in freestyle skiing when she won two golds and a silver in 2022.

Meanwhile, Gus Kenworthy, who won silver at Sochi in 2014 while competing for the USA, has come out of retirement and been selected for the men’s freestyle ski halfpipe. Kenworthy has been a global name ever since he came out as gay in 2015, notably publicly kissing his partner during the 2018 Olympics.

21-year-old Kirsty Muir was another British Gold medallist at the Winter X Games, winning in the Slopestyle. Muir was the youngest member of Team GB in 2022 and eventually finished fifth in the Big Air final. She will compete in both the Slopestyle and Big Air categories which are taking place in Livigno.

In snowboarding, Mia Brookes is the name to keep an eye out for. Competing in the Slopestyle and Big Air, the 19-year-old made history when she won Great Britain’s first ever Slopestyle World Championship title at 16. Too young to compete in the 2022 Winter Olympics, she was the first woman ever to land a CAB 1440 double grab, which involves four full rotations whilst grabbing the snowboard twice.

In Milan, British attention will turn to the ice rink. Other than curling, no winter sport captivates the public more than ice skating but Team GB have not medalled in figure skating since Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean’s ice dancing bronze in 1994. Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson are hoping to change that as they compete in the team event as well as ice dance. The duo picked up a bronze at last year’s World Championships and in this year’s European Championships, held in Sheffield. With a team of eight skaters, Britain will be well-represented on the ice.

The hope is that Great Britain can spring some surprises when it comes to performances in Milan. They are not just searching for medals but are also looking for top ten results, as evidence that they are moving in the right direction.

With Muirhead at the helm, they also have someone with first-hand experiences that the road to Olympic glory is often not smooth. Muirhead required four attempts before she finally won Olympic gold in 2022. A capable and calm-headed leader, her advice will be invaluable.

Photography by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images