Cold comfort for Elise as Lizzy ends up with the Brit award

With the Games ending today, RIATH AL-SAMARRAI in Pyeongchang looks back at the winners and losers of the past fortnight...

BEST BRIT LIZZY YARNOLD

The first Brit to defend a Winter Olympics gold medal after a brilliant display of resilience. She has struggled with her motivation since winning at Sochi 2014 and last year was diagnosed as suffering with a vestibular disorder that can leave her disorientated — a bit of an issue at 90mph on a skeleton track. But her comeback here, from a lowly position of world No 9, was a demonstration of excellence.

MOST DISAPPOINTING BRIT ELISE CHRISTIE

She arrived as a three-time world champion in search of three Olympic medals and was disqualified in two and crashed in the other. Questions were rightly asked about her tactics and her temperament in a campaign that was utterly torturous.

FUNDING AXE

There are a few departments that might be in trouble. Bobsleigh has been desperately disappointing. They received more than £5m in funding, yet made such a mess of the finances that Mica McNeill and Mica Moore needed crowd-funding to get to the Games, where they took eighth. Speed skating (£4.7m) is expected to take only minor hits so long as Elise Christie stays with the team as she has current world medals to her name, while figure skating (£1.2m) could be at risk after Penny Coomes and Nick Buckland missed out on a top-eight finish. Ski and snowboarding hit their two-medal target, skeleton exceeded theirs, and it will be interesting to see how curling (£5.6m) gets on.

BEST STAT

More than 30 athletes competing in the Phoenix Snow Park were hospitalised in the various skiing and snowboard events. A graphic illustration of the extreme nature of winter sports.

CHILL FACTOR

Temperatures fell to -25 ahead of the opening ceremony. It was rather surreal to wonder if it was too cold for the Winter Olympics.

UTTER DOMINATION

The 17-year-old American Chloe Kim pulled off arguably the stand-out performance of the Games to win the snowboard halfpipe. She delivered a near-perfect routine of 98.25 points out of 100.

FARCE

The IOC ruled in December that Russia would be banned for state-sponsored doping but then said that athletes who could prove they were clean would be invited. 168 turned up and, shock horror, two tested positive for drugs.

FOREIGN STAR

Ester Ledecka won the snowboard ladies’ parallel giant slalom yesterday after taking gold as an Alpine skier in the super-G. The first such feat in the history of the Winter Olympics. Brilliant.