Woods devastated by medal near miss
make it but think of the fun you would have trying. And if, like her, you are able to transfer athletic performance, in Yarnold’s case from heptathlon, you might end up knitting a scarf with a gold medal around your neck.
“I’m not the one who makes the decision on who gets money,” she said. “I’m hugely grateful for UK Sport supporting us. My job as an athlete is to perform at Olympics and World Championships. And I do think that we inspire people, when I show [kids] videos of me hurtling down the track. How is she doing this, a schoolgirl from Kent? I think that’s really important.” James Woods was left only with crushing disappointment after just missing out on an Olympic medal.
Woods improved his fifth position in Sochi to finish fourth in the freestyle skiing slopestyle final, missing out on a medal by just 1.20 points – his sport’s equivalent of the thickness of an ice skate.
He did his best to accentuate the positive, having played a starring role in the best quality slopestyle final in history. But the skier who is usually relentlessly upbeat was just crushed.
“Fourth isn’t great, it’s pretty minging,” said Woods. “It’s just devastating being that close to the action, to the bright lights, it’s gutting.
“I’ve been prepping for this with only winning in mind. I believe, hand on heart, that if I’d put down my run totally clean I’d be standing here talking to you with a gold medal around my neck.
“I’m proud that I stood up under the pressure and I’ve been able to compete with the best guys in the world. I put everything on the line, I didn’t hold back and went for broke.
“I knew I had to go big and maybe I went just a tad too big. I knew that score probably wouldn’t be enough against this field. I’m proud I was a part of it but, right now, I’m just gutted I’ve only got being proud to show for it. But there’s so much more to this than just the big competitions. Skiing’s got a lot going on for me. I’ll be skiing forever, baby.” l Can Team GB hit their five medal target? Don’t miss a moment of the Olympic Winter Games at Eurosport.co.uk and the Eurosport app.