Full transcript: Cooking up the Winter Paralympics - 23 February 2018

This is a full transcript of the 23 February 2018 Ouch podcast, Cooking up the Winter Paralympics.

In a few days time the Winter Paralympics will kick off in South Korea.

BBC Ouch's Beth Rose managed to catch GB's Chef de Mission, Penny Briscoe to get the the lowdown on all things Paralympic and ask what exactly is a "Chef de Mission"?

Cooking up the Winter Paralympics

Presented by Beth Rose

BETH - [Music] Hello and welcome to this very wintry Ouch podcast with me, Beth Rose. You may have thought the Winter Games were almost over, but in fact you've got a whole lot more skiing, snowboarding, curling and ice hockey to enjoy before the end of the month. It is of course the Winter Paralympics. And I'm lucky enough to be going out there for the whole event.

In case you've not got it in your diary yet - and why haven't you? - the Games take place between the 9th and 18th March at the by now familiar region of PyeongChang in South Korea. Para GB has 17 athletes, that's our biggest team in years, and they'll be amongst more than 650 Paralympic athletes from all over the world. And you know what, Para GB has got a lot of medal chances.

Before the team flew out for pre-Games training I caught up with Para GB team leader Penny Briscoe and grilled her, or rather chatted to her, about the stats, facts, the controversy around Russia and of course who's going for gold.

PENNY - I'm Chef de Mission for Paralympics GB. I'm delighted with every single one of the 17 athletes that have been nominated. I think each one has potential. Some of them are at different stages in terms of their athletic careers; some may be closer to the podium than others. But I think even looking back at what's been happening in the Olympic programme over the last week we've got debutant teenagers that are stealing the show. So, from my perspective I just hope that every Paralympics GB athlete goes out, delivers their personal best. For some that will mean a podium, and for others it will still be a personal best.

BETH - What is a Chef de Mission?

PENNY - Chef de Mission, I guess the term just relates to the leader of a large delegation, so chef of the mission. Chef is leader of the group. I guess it's a French term, but it's one that's used quite widely in sport. And obviously it's a great honour to be leading Paralympics GB once again, this time into PyeongChang.

BETH - And what does the role involve on a day-to-day basis?

PENNY - On a day-to-day basis I guess we need to go back into the cycle and we talk about how we put our preparation strategy together. So, for each Games we're probably thinking about the strategy five or six years out, so as soon as we know the next Games venue - so obviously we've got Beijing in '22 and we've got Paris - we start to think about what's unique about that particular Games environment, how can we put the best preparation strategy in place to ensure that Paralympics GB is the best prepared team out of all the national Paralympic committees that are competing in that particular Games.

BETH - And it's quite hard because it's not just PyeongChang coming up and the Winter Olympics, you also do the Summer Games, so every two years you're on this treadmill.

PENNY - Yeah. We talk about a three-Games cycle generally. Currently obviously PyeongChang we're right down into the detail; we're pretty well ready to go. Tokyo is that bit further away in 2020, but we're already starting to think about the next Winter Games which is in Beijing in 2022.

BETH - That sounds very busy. So, PyeongChang how are the team looking?

PENNY - Obviously we've got 17 selected athletes; it's our biggest team since Turin. I think what's really exciting about this team is I guess the ability for us to consolidate the position from Sochi. So, Sochi was a landmark Games from a Winter perspective: six medals, the first gold on snow for any British or Northern Irish athlete. And I think that we've got huge potential in this team. It's a nice blend of returning Paralympians and debutants. And for the first time in 20 years we're represented in Nordic, so Scott Meenagh will be competing in both cross country and biathlon, not to forget the curlers who won that nail-biting bronze back in Sochi, and they'll be back hopefully to compete for podium places once again.

BETH - There's quite a high medal target, is it six to ten?

PENNY- Yeah.

BETH - Which seems a lot.

PENNY - More than six; I think the minimum expectation is seven. And as you say it is quite a lot, and it's also a really tough target. Not that we should be daunted by that, because obviously investment is linked to performance. And the increased investment post-Sochi means that we're hoping that that will have had a positive impact on the preparation of the athletes. I think there's more depth in the snow sport team going into PyeongChang than there was in Sochi. And obviously the wheelchair curlers got a bronze at the world championships last year.

So, I think it is within grasp but I think it will be based on athletes being on the start line fit and healthy, and also being consistent in their performances across the duration of the Games.

I think one of the things that stands out for me in terms of Winter para sport is that the margins are so fine. And that can be the margins in terms of the weight of the stone in the curling ring, the line, or it can be the speed or the line round a gate in skiing. The fine margins between a gold and a silver, a gold and no medal, between a perfect line and crashing out, they're so minute that I guess it's what makes this such an attractive and exciting environment. But also the vagaries of those fine margins also mean that we could have a successful Games or a less successful Games.

BETH - And obviously these Games have been surrounded with a bit of controversy around the Russian athletes. The International Paralympic Committee has said that Russians compete as neutrals providing that they have been cleared. And when you read the news you might think, oh well that's Russia's problem. But does it have an impact on the GB team and getting your head around that?

PENNY - It's interesting being around the team because their focus is laser like, and they're really just focusing on themselves and their own performances.

I think if we take a step back as, I guess, the senior leadership team, clearly everyone at Paralympics GB promotes and advocates clean sport, and therefore I think we supported the IPC's decision back in 2016. It was a strong decision to exclude NPC Russia. But I think in terms of progress is being made, albeit you could argue a little bit slow. But it's quite right in terms of we're also supportive of the decision that IPC has now made to allow Russian athletes to compete as neutrals as long as they can demonstrate they're clean athletes. And I think the main thing here is that we all want clean sport.

BETH - And that means there's some really strong competition for the GB team, especially the curlers. Russia are quite a big team to come up against.

PENNY - Yeah, but that won't faze Sheila as coach or any of the athletes. Curling, for a sport that people I guess would see as quite slow, it's strategic, but it's also quite volatile in terms of those that are winning medals. There's a lot of turnover. The Russians are probably the most consistent.

But if you want to top the podium you've got to be all-comers. They've demonstrated time and again that they're competitive. And the margins, if it comes down, as it did in Turin, to the last stone of the last end in the final let's hope that our skip, if they've got the hammer, can this time take out whoever's stone it is and put Paralympics GB on the top of the podium.

BETH - Fingers crossed. Now, you were a canoeist when you first got into sport. Have you got into snow sports? Have you taken up skiing or curling or anything?

PENNY - [Laughingly] No. I've done a little bit of skiing. Yeah, I was a canoeist so I quite like the thrill of extreme sports. I've paddled the Grand Canyon and I've done those kinds of things. But I've had quite a lot of injuries. I did a little bit of skiing when I was a schoolteacher a long time ago and ended up with more injuries. So, I've sort of parked that one. And whilst my kids like to get out on the snow I am staying slightly warmer and slightly less scary by just doing a bit of triathlon, a bit of biking, and leaving the snow sports for those that can.

BETH - Hopefully that's given you a taste of what's to come and made you even more excited. As always we love to hear from you, and if you've got a burning question you want me to ask while I'm out in South Korea then do get in touch. You can email [e-mail], tweet @bbcouch or find us on Facebook.

We'll be podcasting on this feed as much as possible while I'm out at the Games, so if you're a fan tune in for the background on what's happening at the coldest Paralympics ever staged, and send in your questions for me to answer.

That's all. I'm Beth Rose. See you in South Korea.