Setting medal targets provides motivation

So Team GB have set a target of at least five medals for next month’s Winter Olympics. It hasn’t come as any surprise that curling is one of them and I would have been asking questions if it wasn’t. Medalling is an expectation that we have put on ourselves, so I have no problem with governing bodies doing the same.

My first Games were eight years ago and I must admit I can’t remember if targets were set back then.

Expectation from outside certainly seemed to be lower because we only got one medal as a team in 2010 and one in 2006. Sochi 2014 equalled the best ever with four. The way I look at it is it’s up to the individual whether they let extra pressure come on top of them.

Yes, in an ideal world, these targets would be kept private for the team members, but when more than

£23 million of lottery and government money is being put into eight winter sports then the public have a right to know where the benchmarks are set.

When you look at the medal prospects we have, with the likes of Elise Christie, the targets that have been released seem fair.

If those of us who have a realistic shot at getting on the podium don’t make it, we won’t need telling that we’ve underperformed. The way I’m looking at it is I want to be able to say I contributed to the most successful British Winter Olympics ever. That’s motivation rather than pressure.

Funding cuts

Medal targets are on one side of the coin and the other side is the possibility of funding cuts after the Games.

It can be cruel at times when you’re involved in “minority sports” that rely on the funding sources I mentioned.

I’ve experienced performance-based cuts in the past and the bottom line is you need to keep producing medals year on year to keep your funding. It’s as simple and ruthless as that.

Skeleton is the sport that seems to have attracted the pre-games attention because there is talk that their £6.5m investment may be slashed.

The bar has been set high with gold at the last two Olympics and the form of their team members this year hasn’t been the best.

It isn’t just medals at stake for them – it could be careers as well.

“If those of us who have a realistic shot at getting on the podium don’t make it we won’t need telling that we’ve underperformed

North Korea welcome

One of the best bits of news this week has been North Korea agreeing to take part in the Games. As much as we tried to keep away from politics, it would have been far from ideal to travel to a part of the world where military tensions were high.

With all the problems surrounding Russia, you want the headlines to be dominated by what is happening in the arenas.

Pyeongchang on our minds

We’re out in Switzerland just now and have got the full team together through to the Olympics.

Our alternate, Kelly, has joined us from Canada.

You can’t get away from the fact that everybody who is involved in the Games has got Pyeongchang on their minds now.

If you lose a game to a better team it’s not the end of the world but the last thing you want to do is to let your standards slip so close to the big one.

Picture: Getty Images. Team GB short-track speed skater Elise Christie has competed in the last two Olympics and has a realistic chance of winning a medal this time around.