UK Sport welcomes confirmation of fourth medal at Sochi Olympics to surpass target of at least 3 medals and equal best ever medal haul at a Winter Olympics.
A fantastic Bronze medal won by the GB Women’s Curling team in the Ice Cube today has taken Team GB’s confirmed medal tally at Sochi 2014 to four, surpassing the target of “at least three medals” set by UK Sport.
With Team GB’s male curlers in the Gold/Silver medal match tomorrow, a four-medal haul is guaranteed – equalling Britain’s best-ever performance in the Winter Olympic Games, matching the medal haul from the very first Winter Games in Chamonix, 1924.
Liz Nicholl, Chief Executive of UK Sport, said: "Congratulations to the women’s curling team: Eve Muirhead, Anna Sloan, Vicki Adams and Claire Hamilton; as well as Lauren Gray; their coaches and support team; on winning this all important fourth medal for Team GB at Sochi 2014.
“For them it is due reward for the years of training and preparation they have put in, but for British winter sport we are witnessing history in the making.
“There’s been a record investment of National Lottery and Government funding into British winter sports, and now we have a historic medal haul – equal best with the first ever Games in 1924.
"Our decision to invest on a ‘no compromise’ basis for winter sports, in the same way as we do for summer sports, this past four years has really paid dividends – this team is truly doing the nation proud.
"What this shows is getting the right investment to the right athletes for the right reasons is key to delivering medal winning success – and we will approach our investment towards PyeongChang 2018 with this philosophy at the forefront of our minds. British winter sport has an exciting future ahead of it."
Simon Timson, UK Sport’s Director of Performance, said: "In my 20 plus years of involvement in British winter sport, I have never seen an Olympic team better prepared, confident and with such high expectation of themselves than this one, and surpassing the target of at least 3 medals just shows that we were right to be excited about their prospects.
"It is fitting that these historic medals have been delivered by curling. This sport is a fantastic demonstration of how strong collaborative partnerships – between the sport’s Governing Body, the Scottish Institute of Sport, UK Sport, and the British Olympic Association – can bring success at the highest level.
"Athletes like Jenny Jones, Lizzy Yarnold and the curling teams have benefitted from world class support, made possible by National Lottery funding, and a British high performance system buoyed by the momentum of the home Games in London.
"British athletes, whether they be summer, winter, Olympic or Paralympic, have belief in their ability, and this Games could prove to be a real turning point for us as a winter sports nation."
UK Sport has invested more than £14 million into British winter sport athletes who are competing at the Olympic and Paralympic Games at Sochi 2014, and had set a medal target of "at least three", after the combined range of medal targets agreed with UK Sport funded winter Olympic sports came to three to seven.
The women’s medal means that Curling will meet the top of the ambitious target range they agreed with UK Sport of 1-2 medals, meaning that every sport has either met, or still has the opportunity to meet, their performance target.