With the Winter Olympics starting tomorrow, we take a look at some of the medal hopefuls for the games with an exciting two weeks of action to come in Pyeongchang.
Four years ago, Team GB finished 19th in the overall medals table in Sochi. They ended up with four medals in total – winning one gold, one silver and two bronze medals. They will be cautiously keen to beat that record this time around in South Korea.
We analyse below some of the medal hopefuls for Team GB this time around…
Elise Christie (Short-track speed skater)
The highly-talented short-track speed skater is in the form of her life, having won three gold medals at the 2016 European Championships in Sochi – Christie won all of her events, as she prevailed in the 500m, 1000m, and 1500m, respectively.
However, in-spite of high hopes in the last Winter Olympics, Christie failed to win a medal. She reached the A final of the 500m, but was disqualified following a clash with Italian rider Arianna Fontana. This meant that she ultimately finished eighth, ranked below the B finalists.
Her luck was clearly out in 2014, having been disqualified in the 1500m heats, two days later. In the 1000m, Christie was disqualified for a third time after reaching the semi-final following a second collision in Sochi with Chinese rider, Jianrou Li.
Since then, though, Christie has improved massively and became the first British skater to win two medals at a short track speed skating Championships in Moscow 2015. Christie also became the first woman to win gold at a Championship in 2017 as she won the 1500m title in Rotterdam, Netherlands.
Lizzie Yarnold (Skeleton)
The experienced 29 year-old Skeleton rider has been in phenomenal form since her return after taking a year-long break during the 2015/2016 season. Yarnold looked impressive as she finished fourth in her most recent meeting in race eight of the World Cup in Koenigsse, Germany, behind Austria’s Janine Flock.
? Defending skeleton champion Lizzy Yarnold will carry the GB flag at the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics.
? https://t.co/6g7xRHEp8f pic.twitter.com/MNovepuS6h
— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) February 8, 2018
Yarnold was ranked top of the FIBT rankings during the FIBT rankings in the 2013/2014 and 2014/2015 seasons, respectively. She also won a gold medal at the last Winter Olympics, which were held in Russia and will be keen to continue her current form and repeat that feat four years on in Pyeongchang – the Bath-born skeleton rider has also been announced as the flag bearer for the opening ceremony this morning.
Katie Ormerod (Snowboarder)
The youngster is a bright prospect for Team GB ahead of the games, and at the tender age of 20 years-old, is already being tipped to go on to do big things. She made history at just the age of 16 as well after becoming the first female snowboarder ever to land a backside double cork 1080.
She became the first British snowboarder to win a World Cup Big Air competition when she prevailed In Moscow. She’s already been tested in the slopes of Pyeongchang, as well, looking in her element as she finished fourth in the World Cup event, as well as winning a bronze medal in the test event in China.
First training day and loving the course but unfortunately slipped off a rail and fractured my wrist. I’m all good and looking forward to continuing to train and to competing on Sunday! ☺ pic.twitter.com/Yjr5ORv9FX
— Katie Ormerod (@OrmerodKatie) February 7, 2018
Dave Ryding (Alpine Skiing)
31 year-old ryding is also a big medal hopeful for Team GB given his vast amount of experience in the slalom. Born in Bretherton, England, Ryding has competed in a total of four World Championships and two Olympics.
His best result this year came at the World Cup in Kitzbuhel, Austria when he finished second in the slalom and he carries Britain’s best hopes of earning a medal in the slalom over the course of the next two weeks.
Aaaand thats a wrap!! 8th national Slalom title to finish the season.. nice work to my team mates @LaurieTaylorSki and Billy Major!! pic.twitter.com/u6koYA1xMP
— Dave Ryding (@daveryding) April 2, 2017
James Woods (Freestyle skier)
The Sheffield-born freestyle skier has been in excellent form in the lead up to the Winter Olympics. All in all in his career so far, Woods has won a total of 17 medals. His first medal came at the X Games in 2011, where he won a bronze medal in Tignes, France.
The 26 year-old battled through a hip injury in the last Winter Olympics as he finished fifth in Sochi, but has potential to go one better and win a medal this time around.
