As Team GB depart Beijing, they have their curlers to thank for a disaster averted, but once the glow of Eve Muirhead & Co.’s gold, as well as men’s silver, on the final weekend fades, it will be difficult to judge these Winter Olympics as much more than a disappointment.
At Winter Games, for a nation devoid of much snow, the fanfare that has accompanied Great Britain’s resurgence as a Summer Games powerhouse since the turn of the century has always been much more muted but five medals at each of the past two editions suggested things were on an upward trajectory in chillier climes, too.
