Winter Olympians no longer second class

There have probably been times when Winter Olympians have felt a bit like second class citizens compared to the summer Olympians, but that certainly isn’t the case any more.

I’ve just come back from London where we enjoyed our night at the Team GB ball.

My first Games in 2010 seems like a long time ago and I certainly can’t remember going to one back then.

The scale of a Winter Olympics will never be as big as a summer Games for one obvious reason – there aren’t, and never will be, as many sports.

Those of us who have chosen winter sports to play, and are lucky enough to make it to the top level, don’t expect the build-up and the hype to be the same.

What you hope for is that a Winter Olympics brings a brighter spotlight on your sport and if you win a medal you get the recognition that somebody who wins a summer medal would. I think that is the case now.

There are certainly fewer of us, that’s for sure!

I think team GB will be sending 65 athletes to Pyeonghchang and the medal target is between four and six. There is a positive to that. The team is much closer because there are so few of us.

You get to know everybody on first names terms, which would be impossible if you’re going to a summer Olympics or even a Commonwealth Games.

And if you manage to win a medal you feel that everybody is really invested in your success and you are part of a select club.

The 100 days to go event has certainly whetted the appetite to become a two-time medal winner, that’s for sure.

Picture: PA. Lizzy Yarnold, who took gold for GB in the skeleton at the Winter Olympics in Sochi in 2014.