Team GB Debrief

[Mkbw50 475]

Hello, welcome to Team GB Debrief, a chance for us to yammer, unfortunately, in the past tense, about Team GB at the Milan and Cortina Olympics. 

 

Leaderboard

 

Anticlimactically, I won on 44 points, beating @Surreal and @Jonwho share silver on 42. @cjsavorytook 31, with @G-annin fifth with 27.

 

Medals

3/1/1

 

A great Games for us in general and definitely the best Winter Games in living memory for most of us. Still a few near-misses which I think a lot of people would say is a positive for the future. I was happy the forum stayed active throughout

 

 

 

 

Edited February 23 by Mkbw50

[Rafa Maciel 1,710]

2 minutes ago, Mkbw50 said:

Hello, welcome to Team GB Debrief, a chance for us to yammer, unfortunately, in the past tense, about Team GB at the Paris Olympics. 

Paris? You really are living in the past 

[Mkbw50 475]

Fixed it.

 

My evil scheme of copy-pasting has been cruelly exposed

[Rafa Maciel 1,710]

Just glad nobody picks me up on my countless errors. 

[Surreal 33]

3 hours ago, Mkbw50 said:

Hello, welcome to Team GB Debrief, a chance for us to yammer, unfortunately, in the past tense, about Team GB at the Milan and Cortina Olympics. 

 

Leaderboard

 

Anticlimactically, I won on 44 points, beating @Surreal and @Jonwho share silver on 42. @cjsavorytook 31, with @G-annin fifth with 27.

 

Medals

3/1/1

 

A great Games for us in general and definitely the best Winter Games in living memory for most of us. Still a few near-misses which I think a lot of people would say is a positive for the future. I was happy the forum stayed active throughout

 

 

 

 

Although this was our best Winter Games ever and I'm proud of that, there is still a tinge of disappointment for me with plenty of missed opportunities & "what ifs":

 

• What if Brookes didnt revert that 16 in the BA?
• What if Muir didnt squat that second jump in the slopestyle?
• What if Wyatt didnt tap the wall exiting T2 in the mixed skeleton?
• What if the USA women lost their last RR Curling match?
• What if Treacy didnt crash out of that 1500 final?
• What if Brookes didnt crash out of the slopestyle qualification?

 

Then there was also the mixed curling and Bankes (individually) that underperformed compared to their pre-Games rankings.

 

5 medals and a record 3 Golds is great, but there is a World where we would've come away from these Games with 11 or 12 medals.

 

Hopefully these missed opportunities will turn into medals in 2030 though as most of these athletes are young and should be back then.

 

[Jon 61]

Thanks very much @Mkbw50 for the daily threads and the QOTD - and congrats on your victory!

 

I thought it was on the whole a really successful games for Team GB, even in spite of the many almosts and 4th finishes. That just goes to show the strength and depth of the Team and the fine margins of Winter sport.

 

Particularly impressed by the cross country skiing results and think Joe Davies could be one to watch in the future. 
 

Gutted for the Curlers - the Mixed Doubles was disappointing to walk away without a medal after such a strong showing. The Women performed about as well as you could have hoped, just a shame that it didn’t go their way and they couldn’t make it into the semi finals and who knows what could’ve happened. Really feel for Bruce and the boys, hope they can find a way forward whatever that may be - I’d love to cheer them on in 2030 but who knows. 
 

I have said before but I do feel like our Winter Sport ambition is misplaced when we totally overlook speed skating. With investment, that could be a far more accessible winter sport than some of the others we currently fund. And look at where the Netherlands finished in the medal table - every medal from speed skating. I’m not saying we could ever achieve those heights but I think as a non-alpine nation we miss a trick.

 

Sad the Games are over but looking forward to the Paralympics.

Edited February 23 by Jon

[Rich 31]

I think it was a great performance by the Brits. The medals we didn't get are just the other side of the coin of the medals we did get. I feel sorry for individuals who missed out, especially Muir who got the wrong side of it twice but in general it's just a function of high level sport.

 

The snowboard cross was my favourite moment, partly because it provided the reward for a great career that Bankes deserved. Dave Ryding very briefly being in gold was a great and fitting moment.

 

Musgrave my underappreciated hero.

 

I agree that speed skating is a sport we could do better in but unless there's a change in the funding model, it will never happen. 

 

Bobsleigh was the biggest disappointment for me. I don't know whether it was our sleds on that particular course or whether our pilots were just poor but the sleds hit more walls and did far more sliding sideways than is acceptable.

[Jon 61]

Mouat’s rink open to 2030 and will consider over the Summer.

[Mkbw50 475]

19 hours ago, Surreal said:

Although this was our best Winter Games ever and I'm proud of that, there is still a tinge of disappointment for me with plenty of missed opportunities & "what ifs":

 

• What if Brookes didnt revert that 16 in the BA?
• What if Muir didnt squat that second jump in the slopestyle?
• What if Wyatt didnt tap the wall exiting T2 in the mixed skeleton?
• What if the USA women lost their last RR Curling match?
• What if Treacy didnt crash out of that 1500 final?
• What if Brookes didnt crash out of the slopestyle qualification?

 

Then there was also the mixed curling and Bankes (individually) that underperformed compared to their pre-Games rankings.

 

5 medals and a record 3 Golds is great, but there is a World where we would've come away from these Games with 11 or 12 medals.

 

Hopefully these missed opportunities will turn into medals in 2030 though as most of these athletes are young and should be back then.

 

I do agree with this (this was also the case in Beijing to an extent) but is better to have 5 medals and a lot of near misses than if we completely maximised performance and come away with 5

 

Things look generally very much on the up when it comes to winter sports in this country

[Medard81 22]

Pluses of these games

Best ever Medal haul in a favourable timezone and more than one gold for the first time in a games

Our Skeleton success, specially as Matt Weston is from my home town and there are clearly signs of a bright future in the sport with Stoecker and Tarbit having potential to improve

A first Gold on Snow which was important for that team after early exits in the singles

Zoe Atkin matching her sisters 2018 medal achievement. Shame it wasn’t Gold or Silver but cant be picky her.

Andrew Musgrave raising the bar in Cross Country Skiing. And in Joe Davies there is a ready made replacement if he chooses not to return. Also Anna Pryce looks promising

 

Disappointments

Curling. Not in a bad way as it was gripping from start to finish but the pain of Mouat being edged out twice was painful and also a shame our women were too slow out the blocks. But enjoyed it all the same

Kirsty Muir and Mia Brookes falling short when they were highly fancied. But both have time to put this right and Im sure they will.

Missing out on a first Ice Dance Medal in 32 years. I hope Fear and Gibson stay at the top and come back for another try in 2030  

Poor showing in the Bobsleigh and with Brad Hall going to be nearly 40 next time and no obvious replacement bit concerned about the future of this sport

David Ryding not going out with a top 10 slalom finish in his final race. But cant blame him with the weather on that event causing chaos for everyone

Also a bit surprised Reece Bell (Womens Slalom) and Cornelius Kersten (Speed Skating) didn’t get selected. Particularly the latter who recently won a world championship medal and alongside his partner they could have pushed each other a bit higher. Im guessing his absence was injury related.

 

So overall I did enjoy this Olympics and good to see us having our best ever games in a favourable timezone to see it. Yes it could have been so much better with so many others missing out but I see this as holding something in reserve for the next time when hopefully we will raise the bar again in another favourable timezone.