SKIERS LOOK TO FUTURE AFTER DIFFICULT GAMES
DAVE RYDING produced Britain’s best alpine skiing performance in 30 years but it’s the next 12 that will be interesting. That is the timeframe set by the British Ski and Snowboard performance director Dan Hunt for Britain to become a top-five nation in the snow sports. With only one bronze medal between the skiing and snowboarding disciplines so far, that goal looks ambitious. Ryding performed respectably here by finishing ninth, but there has been no escaping the feeling in South Korea that the squad of
25 includes too many passengers. With UK Sport funding of £5.14million, they were tasked with landing two medals. Hopes now lie with Billy Morgan in the Big Air tomorrow, but regardless of how he performs, scrutiny can be applied to the fringe athletes. While Izzy Atkin got a bronze in
freestyle skiing, there were also seven occasions in which a Brit finished outside the top 50. The squad shouldering GB’s largest medal target has underwhelmed. But the hope comes from Hunt’s track record of innovation from his time with British Cycling. Ryding, who believes he can win a medal at Beijing 2022, said: ‘I don’t see any limits as long as we can keep things progressing. We’ve got some really good youngsters.’ Elise Christie is considering a move abroad to take up long-track speed skating after the misery of her Pyeongchang campaign. The
27-year-old crashed out of the 500m final before disqualifications in the 1500m and 1,000m after collisions with other racers. Such a decision would necessitate a departure from Britain, which has no long-track facilities, but Christie said: ‘Switching has gone through my mind. It’s an easier sport for sure — whoever goes the fastest wins.’ Meanwhile, Britain were knocked out of the men’s curling with a 9-5 loss to Switzerland. They were playing off for a place in the semi-finals but coughed up a huge five points on the ninth end.