Jasmin Taylor: Telemark skier worried about future of Great Britain team

Jasmin Taylor has won four World Championship medals

Telemark skier Jasmin Taylor is worried about the future of the British team, because of a funding shortage.

The 30-year-old from Ipswich has won four World Championship medals and achieved 45 World Cup podiums.

But the sport does not qualify for money from UK Sport because it is not part of the Winter Olympics.

Going into the new season, the team are crowdfunding in the hope of raising £50,000 to help meet the costs of travelling and competing.

"Telemark as a discipline in the UK needs to generate more of an income, and we need to try and get more people into the sport," Taylor told BBC Radio Suffolk.

"We're a bit up against it, we need a bit of help... some of my team-mates work full-time over the summer as well, most of us are doing other things alongside competing, which just adds that extra pressure to find the money."

Asked whether the Great Britain team could cease to exist, she said: "I guess that is a possibility, it's such a struggle at times. We have been lucky to have supporters in the past and it does make such a huge difference. It means we can pay to have our coach there and we can train properly.

"There's costs we have as a team and then there are individual costs. What we are trying to do is cover the costs that are shared amongst everyone. To keep all these plates spinning, we just need that extra bit of help really."

She continued: "I still consider myself very lucky that I get to do this. I want to help as many other people get into it and enjoy it like I have. But times are tough, I do see that as well, it's difficult for everyone at the moment."

Taylor won Britain's first World Championship medal in the USA in 2015 and added another in France in 2017, having once raised more than £2,000 at a car boot sale to help her progress in the sport.

Earlier this year, she doubled up at Murren in Switzerland, finishing third in the Classic event and second in the parallel sprint, when she lost out to Beatrice Zimmerman.

It was a successful finish to what had been a tough season for the former University of Suffolk student.

"I got so bogged down with the stress of everything and thought I really have to keep an eye on that and make sure I keep my head straight. Normally I love it but last season I did struggle," she said.

"It's so important to keep thinking positively and not let the negative side of your head take over. I didn't feel good about how I went about last season, but felt good about the way I approached the World Champs and it speaks in the results."

The former world number two is reluctant to set targets for the 2023-24 season.

She added: "You've got to focus on the job, if you stress about the outcome the whole time, you never get anywhere. I stay away from those questions because it doesn't do me any good. But of course I want to be the best - obviously, that's what we're here for.

"Every year is so different. I don't know what I'm capable of right now, there's no way of answering that question in an honest way."

Jasmin Taylor was speaking to BBC Radio Suffolk's Graeme McLoughlin.