It is less than six months since our summer sport Olympic and Paralympic stars returned from a triumphant performance in Tokyo, yet here we are preparing to be thrilled and inspired as their counterparts from winter sport get ready to compete in Beijing on the world stage.
These Games’ are a great opportunity for our athletes to demonstrate the incredible skills and jeopardy that are such an integral part of winter sports and I have no doubt that Team GB and ParalympicsGB will capture the imagination of the public. It is a chance for them to showcase their character, capabilities, daring and dedication to a global audience and comes after an uncertain 18 months in which they have faced unprecedented challenges.
With international competition disrupted and training facilities compromised, British winter athletes have had to adapt and show great resilience just to earn selection and qualification, yet the ongoing threat of coronavirus means they will continue to face challenges throughout Beijing 2022.
The welfare and wellbeing of our athletes and support staff is our number one priority. Our focus during the Games will be on working with our partners at the British Olympic Association and the British Paralympic Association to ensure we do all we can to ensure every athlete selected gets safely to the start line and has the opportunity to compete.
The lessons learned in Tokyo last summer, when our teams faced similarly challenging circumstances, will help our winter athletes and, while I have no doubt there will be difficulties along the way, I am confident they will deliver some unforgettable moments and build on the successes we enjoyed at the last two winter Games in Pyeongchang and Sochi.
Great Britain may not have the winter sports heritage of some nations, however, we are continuing to develop and at Beijing 2022 we will be competing in a broader range of disciplines and with a more diverse group of athletes than at any previous winter games.
We go into Beijing confident in the ability and potential of our team, but we recognise that success is about more than medals and we want these Games to be a platform to showcase Great Britain positively and inspire the nation.
At UK Sport our mission is to help create the greatest decade of extraordinary sporting moments that reach, inspire and unite the nation. Sports that take place on snow and ice are a key part of this and, looking beyond Beijing to Milan-Cortina in 2026, our ambition is to grow our winter sport capabilities with increasingly tailored and targeted investment.
These investments would not be possible without the support of Government and the National Lottery players and, as we prepare to watch our athletes compete at Beijing 2022, it is important to once again say thank you for their unwavering support, without which the British Teams and athletes would not be where they are today.
That only leaves me to wish the athletes and their support staff the very best of luck. We are all behind them as they step into the Olympic and Paralympic spotlight and I have no doubt they will inspire and delight the British public over the coming weeks.
Sally Munday
Chief Executive, UK Sport