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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
Sport
Mark Staniforth

The five Winter Olympic sports Team GB will never master as medal drought goes on

Eddie ‘The Eagle’ Edwards came last in ski jumping back in 1988 - (Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

Fractions of points. Marginal over-rotations. Steps of out twizzles. Agonising near misses have been the story of Great Britain’s 2026 Winter Olympics so far, with Kirsty Muir and Mia Brookes finishing fourth in their respective events to leave the team without a medal.

Yet there were times when even near misses were an outlandish aspiration for Team GB hopefuls. And sports whose peaks – or even foothills – have remained utterly unconquerable to home nation athletes.

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