A few hopes came and went but I had faith; Lizzy Yarnold had still yet to compete. It might sound strange but I used to train alongside the sliding athletes when I was in Bath. Thanks to the excellent support services and a push track the national training centre for British Bobsleigh and Bobskeleton is at the University. The amount of hours spent training for Modern Pentathlon is hard to beat but the intensity that the sliding athletes work at is impressive. They are only in the country for half of the year in which they have to fit in incredible amounts of strength and power work before heading out for their concentrated winter season in the mountains. Lizzy has a solid work ethic, surprisingly level head for her years and this season she has consistently been topping the podium on the World Cup circuit.
In winter sports consistency does not guarantee an Olympic medal; the women's ski jump and men's half pipe are just two examples when the out and out favourites finished an agonising forth place. Frustratingly I was travelling on the first day of the women's Bobskeleton competition and had to rely on updates from the internet so I knew that Lizzy already had a substantial lead. Unfortunately I then had to wait two days for the final result as I had no internet connection - what a wonderful result for TeamGB.
I do not dare utter another word of my frustration at missing the Winter Olympics as I am currently somewhere far warmer and drier than home - where might that be I hear you say? Well I have headed south for ten days of cycling, sailing and maybe a little bit of much needed sunshine.
