On an island not known for its snow or ice, something is stirring. Not so long ago when Team GB turned up at the Winter Games, they left with their medal cupboard looking barren or bare. Sure, there was the occasional highlight – and those of a certain age will see Robin Cousins, Torvill and Dean and Rhona Martin in their mind’s eye – but as a winter sports country, Britain carried a distinct whiff of Eddie the Eagle: harmless and a little bit hapless.
The transformation has been stark. Between 1952 and 2010, the nation won just 12 medals in 16 Winter Games. Then came a quiet revolution. In Sochi in 2014 there was a five-medal haul, a tally equalled in Pyeongchang in 2018. Now there is a bullish confidence that the team can do even better in Beijing.
