TEAM GB arrived back after a record-breaking Winter Olympics to a hero’s welcome with four of their five medallists.
Their five medals in Pyeongchang – gold for Lizzy Yarnold and bronzes for Laura Deas, Dom Parsons, Izzy Atkin and Billy Morgan – was one more than they had previously managed since the inaugural Games back in 1924.
And some of the 59-strong team arrived at London’s Heathrow airport after looking like they may have not got much rest after yesterday’s closing ceremony and karaoke party that followed.
But even with the Games ending just yesterday, BOA chief executive Bill Sweeney has turned his attention to four years time.
Team GB had £29million of funding and walked away with five medals but Sweeney is ready to ask for more for the 2022 Games in Beijing.
Sweeney said: “If we want to progress and become a top 15 you need more investment.
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“I think we’re where we were with summer sport in 2000.
“The investment is coming in and there’s no reason we shouldn’t be a top‑15 nation.
AIR TO THE THRONE Winter Olympics 2018: Billy Morgan rounds off Team GB’s Olympic joy by passing out at a celebration party – then carrying the Union flag at the closing ceremony
“If you look at the Netherlands’ medal haul, they got 14 in long track speed skating and four in short track so they’re extremely narrow in their focus.
“Whereas we’ve got a wonderful record in skeleton, we could certainly do better in bobsleigh.
“If you look at slopestyle and freestyle skiing we’ve got some really good talent in the pipeline.
“We had some pretty serious ambitions before these Games. We were confident the team we were sending out was the best prepared team that have left these shores for a Winter Games.
“And I think as a nation we always saw this as part of a continuum where we had performed extraordinarily well in three successive summer Olympics, in Beijing, in London and then in Rio.”
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