Forget Eddie the Eagle, Great Britain has provided skiers who could actually compete at Olympic level. While it may be fair to say that the country has failed to make a mark in the jumping events, there are other disciplines that have yielded a moderate level of success.
The biggest prizes continue to elude the British teams, but there have been some groundbreaking athletes on the snow over the years. Here are some of the best.
Looking Ahead
Great Britain may have been disappointed not to have scraped a medal at the 2022 Winter Olympics in China. They sent a promising team to the Games, but the established nations ultimately proved to be too strong.
Attention will now focus on the next Winter Olympics which will be held in Italy in 2026. Cortina is the venue for the skiing element and the Brits will remain hopeful of causing an upset.
Can Great Britain pull it off? A useful independent viewpoint is traditionally provided by the sports betting industry ahead of the Games. In the lead up to Milano Cortina 2026, online betting sites linked to SBO.net will publish markets for the main online skiing disciplines.
Those interested in winter sports can take their time to assess the figures while taking in any additional information that can appear. News stories and blog posts are often accompanied by useful betting guides and sportsbook reviews.
If anyone visiting the site wishes to get involved in the winter sports markets, it’s possible to do so. All operators listed are willing to take on new players and many list welcome promotions to get the account moving.
Following a swift and secure registration process, verification follows and players should add funds to cover qualifying bets. A range of deposit and withdrawal options are available to handle those transactions while help operators will step in if assistance is needed.
As the account moves forward, there will be other benefits. Most bookmakers offer live betting and mobile apps, while many provide live streaming for those that maintain a funded account.
It’s the site with which to follow Winter Olympics betting but can Great Britain ever hope to mount a genuine challenge? In the meantime, here are the some of the best British skiers.
Chemmy Alcott
Brighton’s Chemmy Alcott was one of the most versatile British skiers of all time. Across her career, she competed in five disciplines and was dominant at national level between 2002 and 2009.
Alcott could sometimes compete with the best on the international stage, but she would finish her career without an Olympic or World Championship medal. Her best result came at the Winter Games in Torino in 2006 where she finished in 11th place in the downhill.
Konrad Bartelski
Konrad Bartelski shocked the skiing world when he recorded a second place in a world cup event. It was the best result for a British skier at the time and it’s fair to say that it came from nowhere.
That runners up slot came in the downhill at Val Gardena in 1981 and he came within 0.11 seconds of upsetting the winner Erwin Resch. It led to a long media career but, sadly, Bartelski was unable to replicate his success on the slopes.
Divina Galica
A multi-talented sportswoman, Divina Galica was a groundbreaker in both winter sports and motorsport. As a skier, she competed in four Winter Olympics, captaining the team in 1968 and 1972. She even made an unlikely return in 1992 at the speed skiing in Albertville.
In between times, Divina Galica blazed a trail for women in motorsport. She entered three World Championship Formula One Grand Prix and competed consistently in the Sports Cars discipline.
Dave Ryding
He hasn’t exactly inherited a great legacy and he doesn’t have a lot of competition, but Dave Ryding is widely regarded as the greatest British skier of all time. He is the first, and so far, only man to have won a World Cup event via success in the slalom at Kitzbuhel in 2022.
Ryding has already competed in four Winter Olympics but he will be 39 by the time the Games return to Cortina in 2026. He remains as Great Britain’s best hope for a medal but time is running out.
