Huge Success or huge disappointment Lollipop

Lollipop is still stunned. Team GB could have won two medals today at the Sochi Winter Games.  Instead the Curling team came away with silver and Short track speed skater Elise Christie was penalised for the third time during the games.

Both failures meant the team missed out on the chance to win two golds at one Winter Games for the first time.

But both failures also mean the current medal haul of four equals the total they won at the inaugural Games in 1924.

Although the GB’s Curling team were heavily defeated by Canada 9-3  finishing second and securing silver was the first medal for the men’s team since the sport’s debut at the 1924 Chamonix Games.

Plus the ladies curling side swiped Bronze as team captain Eve Muirhead secured a 6-5 victory over Switzerland yesterday.

Christie is becoming known as the most unluckiest athlete of  Sochi 2014. So it seems people are forgetting she’s still the reigning European champion and a world bronze-medallist over 1,000m.

This Winter Games has risen British athletes up to the likes of Canada and Norway and yet some of them still feel disappointed.

Team GB may have missed out on a historic Gold as they aimed to pick up two golds in Sochi but they have already surpassed UK Sports three medal target who invested £14m to support Britain’s teams at the Games.

Liz Nicholl, chief executive of UK Sport, said, “There’s been a record investment of National Lottery and Government funding into British winter sports, and now we have a historic medal haul.”

So why are our team suddenly overreaching themselves Lollipop? This is not the Winter games we were expecting, especially for the men’s curling team. After winning five and losing four of their round robin fixtures, Great Britain’s men only made it through to the knock-out phase after coming through a tense play off against Norway.

If Lollipop told David Murdoch’s side that they would walk away with a silver medal in Sochi they would have taken it and asked questions later.

They may have been disappointed but we weren’t. To secure silver against defending champions Canada is no disappointment.

Once again we’re the piling the pressure on to our GB athletes. Britain have one more realistic chance to rewrite the record books, with the four-man bobsleigh team, who won World Cup silver in December, starting their bid for gold on Saturday.

But Lollipop and I aren’t bothered. We have already got Gold with Skeleton champion Lizzy Yarnold. Vandals have even tried to paint a postbox gold in her home town of Kent to symbolise her victory. What more could you ask for?

That 2^nd elusive Gold medal perhaps…

Jones Makes Stunning GB History

So the first weekend of Sochi 2014 is almost over and Britain have already got a medal.

Lollipop watched in awe as Bristol Snowboarder Jenny Jones won Great Britain’s first ever Olympic medal on the snow.

The champ won a historic Slopestyle bronze after scoring 87.25 points in her second run.

Lollipop and I were gripped with anxiety as we watched 10 more athletes attempt to beat her score.

American Jamie Anderson eventually took gold with 95.25, ahead of Finland’s Enni Rukajarvi on 92.50.

Throughout the agonising wait Lollipop still didn’t realise what history Jones had made or what this could mean for the sport in Great Britain.

It was only the BBC commentators dramatic yells and squeals that alerted us to the fact that Team GB had finally got a medal on snow at the Winter Olympics.

In the 2002 Winter Olympics Alain Baxter thought he had become Britain’s first medal-winner on snow when he finished third in the men’s slalom. But his bronze was taken away after he failed a drugs test.

Lets be frank us Brits always go overboard when one of our athletes wins anything. So much so that the pressure we place on them can be overwhelming. But for 33-year-old Jenny there was no crazy expectations until we saw her jump.

As a three-time X Games Slopestyle gold medalist, who has worked in a cardboard factory, a doughnut shop and as a chalet maid to help fund her snowboarding career Jones didn’t have much UK backing.

Plus the event Slopestyle was only accepted into the Sochi Olympic programme in 2012, at a time when Jones was considering her future in the sport.

Now in Sochi after such an incredible second run no one could doubt Jones.

“I cannot believe it, I just can’t believe it. I knew I was going to drop [from first place] but I didn’t know how far. I am just so happy.

“It was so difficult waiting. I thought I did my best run and landed it as best as I could.”

Lollipop and I can certainly believe Jones had the determination to go the distance after funding her career through a series of part-time jobs including teaching fencing to children.

Government investment body UK Sport awarded the lowest amount of funds to Ski and Snowboarding which received £1,509,950 out of a total of £13,444,638.

Of course it understandable when you look at how UK Sport works – awarding the most successful sport with the most financial investments. But after Jones’ dramatic finish could everything change for the sport?

Lollipop believes Jones has not only made history. She’s made a greater future for GB Snowboarders.

We doubt she’ll be questioning her future in the sport after finally getting on that podium.