Winter Olympics: Team GB set best ever Pyeongchang medal target

Great Britain are aiming for their most successful Winter Olympics in history after UK Sport set a target of at least five medals from February's Pyeongchang Games

The current record is a four-medal haul set in 1924 and 2014, although Team GB could yet earn a fifth medal from Sochi after three Russian bobsleighers were banned for doping.

The GB Paralympic team has been set a target of seven medals for March's Winter Paralympics.

UK Sport has set a target range for the Olympic team at four to 10 medals, and six to 12 medals for the Paralympic team.

• North Korea will send team to Winter Olympics

Where will the Team GB medals be won?

Short track speed skater Elise Christie became a triple world champion at the 2017 World Championships and will compete in three events in South Korea.

Snowboarder Katie Ormerod won her first World Cup gold in big air last season and has been consistently on the podium. The event makes its Winter Olympics debut.

Great Britain have never won a ski medal but freestyle skiers James Woods and Izzy Atkin could make history in slopestyle.

Slalom specialist Dave Ryding finished second in the Kitzbuhel World Cup last year and has recorded top 10 results this season and in cross country skiing Andrew Musgrave just missed out on a medal at the World Championships.

The funding from UK Sport is significantly up on the Sochi Games cycle

In skeleton, Britain has a proud tradition of winning a medal at every Winter Olympics since the sport was reintroduced in 2002. Sochi 2014 champion Lizzy Yarnold is aiming to become the first Britain to defend an Olympic title, while team-mate Laura Deas has produced the best results so far this season.

The men's bobsleigh team have also enjoyed World Cup podium success this season.

The curling teams have won four medals at the Games, including bronze and silver in Russia four years ago and will be looking to add to that tally in Pyeongchang.

Eve Muirhead's team won bronze at the World Championships and gold at the Europeans while the men's team, skipped by Kyle Smith claimed silver at the Europeans.

"After a number of strong performances from GB athletes across this winter sport season, our agreed medal target with sports shows that Pyeongchang has the potential to be our best Winter Games yet," said UK Sport Director of Performance Chelsea Warr.

"We know that our goals for any Games are always ambitious. However, this is a particularly stretching target given the high risks, low margins for error across a range of events we have medal opportunities in, and in some events more unpredictable outdoor terrains that our athletes will need to skilfully navigate.

"Nevertheless, some fantastic work has gone on behind the scenes by all the teams working with our athletes to ensure they are the best prepared in the world."

Over £32m has been invested by UK Sport via National Lottery and Government funding over the Pyeongchang cycle, more than double the investment for the Sochi cycle.

Paramlympic ones-to-watch

On the Paralympic side, seven medals would represent the best performance since GB won 10 medals at Innsbruck in 1984 which featured a number of sports no longer on the Games programme.

In Sochi, visually impaired skier Kelly Gallagher and her guide Charlotte Evans won Britain's first Winter Paralympic gold medal in Super G.

Over the past year there have been impressive performances from skiers Millie Knight and Menna Fitzpatrick at the World Championship and World Cups, while Para-snowboarders Owen Pick and Ben Moore won medals at their World Championships and the wheelchair curlers took bronze at their Worlds.