Puneet Varma (Editor)

Great Britain at the 2014 Winter Olympics

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IOC code
  
GBR

1
  
1

Competitors
  
56 in 10 sports

Great Britain at the 2014 Winter Olympics

NOC
  
British Olympic Association

Flag bearer
  
Jon Eley (opening) Lizzy Yarnold (closing)

Medals Ranked 19th
  
Gold Silver Bronze Total 1 1 2 4

Great Britain, represented by the British Olympic Association (BOA), competed at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, from 7 to 23 February 2014. The British team was made up of athletes from the whole United Kingdom including Northern Ireland, whose athletes may have elected to hold Irish citizenship, allowing them to represent either Great Britain or Ireland. Additionally some British overseas territories competed separately from Britain in Olympic competition. A total of 56 athletes competed in 11 sports making it the biggest contingent that Great Britain had sent to a Winter Olympic Games for twenty-six years.

Contents

On 9 February 2014, Jenny Jones won Great Britain's first medal on snow in their Winter Olympic history after finishing third in the women's slopestyle.

On 14 February 2014, Lizzy Yarnold won gold in the skeleton. She became the second Briton to win the gold in the event, taking the title from previous Great Britain champion Amy Williams, as well as only the tenth Briton, or British team, to have won Winter Olympic gold. She was elected to be the flag bearer for the closing ceremony.

On 20 February 2014, the women's curling team won their bronze medal match against Switzerland 6–5. In doing so, they ensured that Great Britain met its UK Sport medal target of three medals from the Games.

On 19 February 2014, the men's curling team won their semifinal against Sweden 6–5 and on 21 February 2014, they won the silver medal after being defeated by Canada in the gold medal match 9–3, but the result still confirmed Great Britain's most successful Olympics for ninety years by equaling the medal count of the 1924 Winter Olympics.

Olympic records

On 11 February Great Britain matched an Olympic scoreline record by beating USA 12–3 in women's curling. They also set a new Olympic record by scoring seven points in a single end. On 14 February they equalled the scoreline record again, this time beating Japan 12–3.

Medal and performance targets

On 16 January 2014, the funding body UK Sport announced their medal targets for Team GB at the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi with the target to win three medals with the best chance of success with the ladies skeleton events. Although the target was set at three medals the funding body predicted that Great Britain had the potential to win as many as seven medals, although this total was not widely expected to be reached. Other realistic chances of medal success were with the bobsleigh and curling events.

The games proved to be highly successful for Team GB, exceeding the initial target of three medals and achieving all of the targets for each of the winter sports that were set.

UK Sport funding

In the Winter Olympic Cycle running from 2010 to 2014 the UK government body UK Sport allocated a record budget of over £13 million to fund Team GB for the individual athletes as well as the bobsleigh and curling teams for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. The sports receiving the highest funding were bobsleigh, curling and skeleton, whilst speed skating, ski and snowboard, and figure skating also received funding, but all other winter sports where British athletes were competing did not receive any funding from the body.

Alpine skiing

According to the quota allocation released on 27 January 2014, Great Britain qualified two athletes in alpine skiing.

Biathlon

Based on their performance at the 2012 and 2013 Biathlon World Championships, Great Britain qualified 1 man and 1 woman.

Bobsleigh

* – Denotes the driver of each sled
** – John Baines replaced original selection Craig Pickering who withdrew during the Games with a back injury.
*** – Andrew Matthews replaced original selection Craig Pickering who withdrew during the Games with a back injury.

Cross-country skiing

According to the quota allocation released on 30 December 2013, Great Britain had four athletes in qualification position.

Distance
Sprint

Curling

Based on results from 2012 and the 2013, Great Britain has qualified their men's and women's team (consisting of five athletes) as one of the seven highest ranked nations.

Men's tournament

Team

Standings

Final round robin standings

Round-robin

Great Britain had a bye in draws 4, 7 and 11.

Playoffs

Semifinal
Final

Women's tournament

Team

Standings

Final round robin standings

Round-robin

Great Britain has a bye in draws 2, 6 and 10.

Playoffs

Semifinal
Bronze medal game

Figure skating

On 11 December 2013 the British Olympic Association announced the figure skaters taking part in the Sochi 2014 Olympics:

Team trophy

Freestyle skiing

After suffering injuries and a loss of consciousness as a result of an accident during training on 17 February, it was decided that Rowan Cheshire would not compete in the women's halfpipe event, which began just three days later.

Short track speed skating

Based on their performance at the two World Cup events in November 2013, Great Britain qualified 3 men and 2 women.

The team for GB was named on 16 December 2013.

Men
Women

Qualification legend: ADV – Advanced due to being impeded by another skater; FA – Qualify to medal round; FB – Qualify to consolation round

  • Elise Christie finished 2nd in the final, but was disqualified after colliding with fellow competitors, the disqualification led her to finishing 8th in the 500 m.
  • Snowboarding

    Freestyle

    Qualification Legend: QF – Qualify directly to final; QS – Qualify to semifinal

    Snowboard cross

    Qualification legend: FA – Qualify to medal final; FB – Qualify to consolation final

    References

    Great Britain at the 2014 Winter Olympics Wikipedia