Class of 2014
The end of the year is closing in, so we’re taking a look back at our year and announcing the Sochi 2014 winners from the Team GB Olympic Yearbook awards.
Leadership was in abundance at Sochi 2014 but no one showed that during competition more than the men’s curling skip, Dave Murdoch. Twice in two days saw Team GB’s knock-out matches versus Norway and Sweden go down to the final stone, but Dave held his nerve to help clinch a silver medal - Team GB’s first men’s curling success in 90 years.
Team GB’s success on the ice continued thanks to the women’s curling team, who were led superbly by Eve Muirhead. Their bronze medal match victory over Switzerland clinched Team GB’s fourth medal at Sochi 2014, equalling our highest ever tally at the Winter Olympic Games.
These two took the Nanjing 2014 Youth Olympic Games by storm! With Giarnni Regini-Moran coming home with 5 medals including 2 golds and Ellie Downie winning 4 medals all in the artistic gymnastic competitions. Make sure you remember these names folks!
Lizzy Yarnold’s gold medal triumph in the women’s skeleton fell on St. Valentine’s Day but the champion didn’t forget boyfriend and British Skeleton engineer James Roche amid all the celebrations. Lizzy even took a card onto the podium of her flower ceremony before handing it over to James soon after.
Aside from a great showing in the women’s snowboard slopestyle, Aimee Fuller was certainly one of the liveliest Team GB athletes at Sochi 2014 and entertained the nation with her unique commentary style during Jenny Jones’ historic bronze medal – Team GB’s first of the Games.
Sochi 2014 played host to Chemmy Alcott’s fourth Winter Olympic Games as a Team GB athlete. Chemmy has also appeared at Salt Lake City, Turin, Vancouver and has notched up seven top 20 finishes along the way – an incredible achievement for an athlete who’s broken her right leg three times.
In fact, the leg breaks are the tip of the iceberg as a broken jaw, arm, ankle as well as damage to her head, back and pelvis during Chemmy’s career means that she’s in a shoe-in for our ‘Sick Note’ award as well. Congrats Chemmy! Hope you’re enjoying a well-earned retirement from competitive skiing!
Sochi 2014 was Shelley Rudman’s third Winter Games and the 2006 Olympic silver medallist seemed determined to enjoy herself. As well as finishing sixth in the women’s skeleton final, Shelley was seen all over the Olympic Park cheering on the other Team GB athletes and selfie-snapping as she went about her cheerleader role.
Team GB athletes always like to get behind the each other when they’re not competing but James ‘Woodsy’ Woods went a stage further this year and proudly sported the union flag on the side of his head. Woodsy must have taken some of that inspiration for himself after finishing an incredible fifth in the ski slopestyle final after a hip injury threatened to rule him out of Sochi 2014 completely.
Spending hours and hours in the gym is part of any Team GB athlete’s schedule, but for bobsleigh pilot John Jackson getting as big and as powerful as possible is essential for his sport. And, dare we say it, he’s rather good. Jackson led his Team GB quartet to a fifth place finish in Sochi, an agonising 0.11 seconds off a medal. Pretty impressive going after only returning to training three months before the Games following surgery on his Achilles.
Thrills and spills are commonplace in short-track speed skating and Sochi 2014 showed more than ever that it’s an all action, fast paced sport where excitement is guaranteed but tumbles are the norm. No one was on the wrong end of the rotten luck more than Elise Christie but the Scot showed her class and to win a silver medal in the 500m at the World Championships just three short weeks after her disappointment in all three of her events in Sochi.
Jenny Jones got the ball rolling for Team GB at Sochi 2014 with a historic bronze in the women’s snowboard slopestyle on the first Sunday. But Jenny’s woolly hat obsession meant her new medal had a rival for her favourite Sochi accessory - the 34-year-old was rarely seen around the Olympic Park without sporting one of her beloved beanies from her collection.