Great Britain at the Winter Olympic Games
Great Britain first took part at the Winter Olympic Games in 1924 in Chamonix, France and has joined the event from then on. The nation has won a total of 26 medals (including the medals it piled up in Sochi, in 2014).
The majority of the medals captured by Great Britain have come from ice sports. Jenny Jones snowboard slopestyle bronze medal in 2014 was the first medal ever won on snow, the 25 other medals won by Gerat Britain have been in ice sports.
The nation’s best finish at the Winter Games was was also at its first appearance in 1924 where it collected 1 gold, 1 silver and 2 bronze medals to placed 6th overall in the medal tally. Great Britain matched that performance in 2014.
Figure skating sensation Jeannette Altwegg earned a bronze in 1948 in St. Moritz and then won gold at 1952 Games in Oslo.
During the 1984 Sarajevo Winter Olympic Games, the tandem of Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean pulled of a startling performance. The duo’s impressive routine which showcased the music from Maurice Ravel's Boléro helped them secure 12 perfect 6.0 scored to clinch the gold medal in a smashing fashion.
Amy Williams also stamped her class at the winter Games in the skeleton competition where she ripped the track record two times and captured the gold medal. The nation basked in Williams’ victory since it ended the Britain’s more than 30 years of gold medal drought.
Trivia
- Great Britain is one of three nations to have taken part in all Winter and Summer editions of the Olympic Games (the others are Switzerland and France).
- Great Britain’s first Winter Olympic gold medal came from its men’s curling team in 1924.
- In 1984 in Sarajevo, Britain's Jayne Torville and Christopher Dean won gold in the ice dancing competition, gaining perfect scores from all judges for artistic impression.
- In 1988, British ski jumper Eddie "the Eagle" Edwards came in last in the 70-meter and 90-meter jumps, and was welcomed home by hundreds of fans in London.
- At the 2002 Games in Salt Lake City, Britain's Alain Baxter lost his bronze slalom medal after a drug test, although the drug detected turned out to be a Vicks inhaler. Unknown to him, it has a different formulation in America than in the UK. A later investigation cleared him of all moral guilt, but his medal was not returned.
- In 2014, Jenny Jones of Great Britain took the bronze in snowboard slopestyle. In doing so, Jones became the first Briton to win an Olympic Winter Games medal on snow.
- British freestyle aerials skier Lloyd Wallace is set to compete in PyeongChang 2018. His father Robin Wallace represented Great Britain at the 1988 Calgary Olympics when freestyle was first introduced as a demonstration sport. His Mother, Jilly Curry, competed in two Olympic games – Albertville in 1992 and Lillehammer in 1994.
Related Pages
- About Sport in the UK
- Great Britain at the Summer Olympics
- More Winter Olympics Countries
- Winter Olympics main page.
- About Sport in the UK
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