Team GB face prospect of returning empty-handed from Beijing Games

The ghosts of Albertville 92 are twitching. It is 30 years since Great Britain returned from a Winter Games without a single medal and more than 20 since the money taps began to flood across Olympic sport. But suddenly a nation used to every Games bringing ever greater glories – and stories– is starting to notice an alien sensation: potential failure.

Team GB arrived in Beijing confident they would win between three and seven medals. They still might. But as each gold-plated opportunity slips by – a loose curling stone here, a mistimed snowboard turn there – the sense of nervousness grows. Having talked a good game, they increasingly resemble a gambler on tilt, desperate for any kind of win.

On Saturday there was more pain as Britain’s skeleton sliders, who had won a medal at every Games since 2002, were so far off the pace that if it was horse racing there would have been a steward’s inquiry. Brogan Crowley, tipped as a future star, finished 22nd out of 25 competitors while Laura Deas, a bronze medallist four years ago, was 19th.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t deliver something better for you,” said Deas, fighting back the tears. “The speed that I so desperately want is not there, and there’s nothing I can do about that now.”

What made these results even more puzzling is that Team GB athletes consistently made better starts than the German gold medallist Hannah Neise. But a combination of poor driving and a strangely slow sled meant they were soon propping up the rear.

So what is behind Britain’s poor performance? Part of it is simple variance. A small number of medal prospects, combined with many winter events being highly chaotic, is a recipe for unpredictability – good or bad. And in Beijing it has so far been bad.

Some Team