Gold for Lizzie on a mixed day for Team GB
Great Britain’s Winter Olympic team celebrated their very own ‘Super Saturday’ after Lizzy Yarnold retained her skeleton title and Laura Deas and Izzy Atkin also won bronze medals in Pyeongchang.
The team’s success added to Dom Parsons’ bronze medal in the men’s skeleton means they h a v e a l re a d y equalled the record four- medal haul from both the Chamonix and Sochi Games.
An emotional Yarnold, who also became the first Briton to defend a Winter Olympic title, revealed she overcame dizzy spells and a bad cold to succeed and added: “I’m overwhelmed and exhausted. I don’t really know how it happened.
“After the first run I wasn’t sure whether I was going to be able to finish the race because my chest infection was so bad I was struggling to breathe and I got here only with the help of my team.”
Yarnold’s team-mate Deas also moved up to join her on the podium, grabbing bronze by just 0.02 seconds over Austria’s Janine Flock, who started the fourth and final run in the lead but fell out of the medals into fourth.
However, it was not all good news, with further heartbreak for Scotland’s Elise Christie as she crashed out in her 1500m short track semi-final.
The Scot was taken out of the arena on a stretcher but x- rays revealed no broken bones, meaning she could have a final medal chance in the 1000m.
Earlier, Izzy Atkin won Britain’s first medal on skis when she held her nerve to grab bronze in the women’s ski slopestyle at Phoenix Snow Park.
The 19-year-old, the youngest member of the British team, pulled out a final run of 84.60 to edge into third place behind Switzerland’s Sarah Hoefflin and Mathilde Gremaud.
Atkin said: “I still can’t believe it. I’m really overwhelmed. I’m just really happy.
“I’m really proud of how I skied in that last run. I would have been stoked with anything but I am really happy with third.”
Atkin, who is based in Park City, Utah, and has Br itish and Malaysian parents, was persuaded to compete for Britain by Park and Pipe ski head coach Pat Sharples, who was aware of her dual nationality.
“She’s been the dark horse, the little quiet girl who has come from behind and this is just the start of her career,” said a delighted Sharples.
Meanwhile, Yuzuru Hanyu became the first male figure skater to retain his Olympic title in 66 years with a dazzing free skate at Gangneung Ice Arena, ahead of Japanese compatriot Shoma Uno with Javier Fernandez of Spain in third.