It’s official, spring has sprung and winter is over – although not if you’re a curler – so with the final major events of the winter calendar drawing to a close we take a look back at what has been a record-breaking season for Great Britain on both snow and ice with ten British athletes from seven different disciplines winning World Cup or World Championships medals.
Elise Christie put the pain of Sochi 2014 behind her as she made her mark on the global stage in emphatic style at the recent World Short Track Championships, in Rotterdam.
The 26-year-old, who had already won five World Cup gold medals this season, set a new 500m world record and notched up silver and bronze medals as well, won a hat-trick of World Championships titles earlier this month.
Having missed out in the 500m, finishing fourth, she took 1000m, 1500m and overall gold medals to banish memories of disqualifications in Sochi, three years earlier.
And with Charlotte Gilmartin also showing promise with three World Cup bronze medals this season, it has been a winter to remember for GB Short Track.
With a first alpine World Cup podium for Great Britain in 35 years, five other top-ten finishes and an 11th-place in the World Championships, it has been a sparkling winter for slalom skier Dave Ryding.
The 30-year-old made good on his early-season promise with a second place in the Kitzbuhel slalom, in January, nearly following it up with a second podium finish in a month but just missing out as he finished fourth in the City Event, in Stockholm.
There was a sixth place in Levi and a seventh in Zagreb, as well as a tenth in Schladming and an eighth in Aspen to finish the season, meaning he finished eighth overall in the World Cup standings.
Lizzy Yarnold returned to action in the skeleton after taking a year out for the 2015-16 season, and came back with a bang as she led the overall World Cup standings after just two events, thanks to fourth and second place finishes.
The Sochi 2014 champion ended the season in ninth place, with compatriot Laura Deas also impressing in finishing sixth, with seven top ten finishes over the course of the season.
Deas also registered a top ten in the World Championships, while Yarnold showed her class with a bronze medal on her return to event.
In the men’s skeleton Dom Parsons finished the World Cup season in tenth, while Lamin Deen piloted his four-man bobsleigh crew to five top-15 finishes to earn himself 12th place overall, with Mica McNeill just one place back in the women’s bobsleigh standings. In January, McNeill and Mica Moore won World Junior Championships gold in Winterberg – the first GB win at this level since 2011 - while Bruce Tasker and Joel Fearon were ninth at the World Championships.
Andrew Musgrave recorded two top ten finishes this season as the 26-year-old cross country skier finished ninth in the Quebec City 15km freestyle pursuit and sixth in the Ulricehamn 15km freestyle.
The skier then improved on his World Cup form, which earned him a 26th place finish overall, with the best ever result by a British Nordic skier when he took fourth in the 50km freestyle at the World Championships.
Earlier in the event he had also finished 11th in the 30km skiathlon and 12th in the 15km classic.
It’s been a winter of landmarks for GB Park & Pipe riders this season as Katie Ormerod got a first World Cup win at the Moscow Big Air, and James Woods took X Games gold in the same event – although his came on skis compared to Ormerod’s on a board.
Ormerod also grabbed second place in the Monchengladbach Big Air World Cup and third places in the X Games Slopestyle and Alpensia Big Air World Cup, as well as second at the Innsbruck Air + Style event.
Still on the boards there was a World Cup bronze for Billy Morgan at the Monchengladbach Big Air, while Aimee Fuller grabbed fourth at the Moscow Big Air World Cup.
Jamie Nicholls also got in on the act with a second place at the Seiser Alm Slopestyle World Cup, with Woods grabbing another medal in the Quebec Slopestyle World Cup.
Woods then warmed up for the season-ending World Championships with a bronze in the X Games Europe slopestyle, while Izzy Atkin made history by becoming the first British woman to win a slopestyle World Cup gold on skis, in Silvaplana.
And the pair continued their success into the World Championships, as they both picked up bronze medals in the ski slopestyle events. While Nicholls capped his season in style with a bronze medal in the final slopestyle World Cup of the season, sealing second spot in the overall standings.
Eve Muirhead completed her set of World Women's Curling Championships medals by beating Sweden to take the bronze medal in Beijing, China. It added to the bronze medal Team Muirhead won in Sochi 2014 and last year's European Championships, and means the Scot now has gold, silver and bronze medals from the World Championships, Dave Murdoch and his men's rink have yet to begin their World Championships campaign, but will be looking to make their mark on the international stage once again - after missing the 2016 Europeans due to Tom Brewster's rink being the qualified team - when the event kicks off on Saturday, April 1, in Edmonton, Canada.
Sportsbeat 2017