'I do think we'll come back stronger' - Katherine Grainger vows Team GB will improve after Beijing disappointment

Katherine Grainger insists the 'huge disappointments' of the Winter Olympic Games will form key catalysts for change as Team GB bosses plot a road to recovery ahead of Milan Cortina 2026. British athletes failed to win a medal until the penultimate day of Beijing 2022 as Bruce Mouat and Eve Muirhead's curlers salvaged a misfiring campaign with silver and gold respectively.

Ad/> UK Sport had set an ambitious target of three to seven medals at the Games after British athletes had bagged five in PyeongChang four years ago. Beijing 2022Muirhead ready for 'craziness' back in the UK following gold medal win21/02/2022 AT 15:15 Several sports, including skeleton, snowboarding and skiing, underperformed in the Chinese capital but UK Sport chair Grainger says the setbacks will bring about a much-needed shake-up ahead of the Games in four years' time.

The five-time Olympic rowing medallist, 46, said: «I do think we'll come back stronger because of this. »It's a horrible thing to say but, having done it as an athlete, those huge disappointments are where you have the biggest opportunity to learn.

«We will learn big lessons from this and I think it gives us all an extra bit of hunger.» UK Sport had invested major sums of money into Team GB's preparation for the Games, including over £200,000 via a Beijing Support Fund for sports not in receipt of World Class Programme funding. Figure skating, speed skating, luge and bobsleigh were among the key beneficiaries as UK Sport aim to diversify British medal-winning potential and enhance the UK's winter sports fortunes.