It’s considered GB’s strongest event
Team GB has been banned from using a new skeleton helmet in the Winter Olympics after losing an appeal.
It comes after Team GB had appealed to the infamous Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) earlier this week to overturn the decision made by the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation (IBSF).
The concern is around the shape of the helmet which Cas says is designed to enhance aerodynamic performance because of the protruding rear of the helmet.
GB’s skeleton athletes will have to wear the helmets they used during the last World Cup season.
Natalie Dunman, executive performance director at the BBSA, said: “Based on the strength of the case we put forward, naturally we are disappointed in [the] decision.
“However, this does not affect our final preparations and nor has the discourse affected the athletes’ focus or optimism going into the Games.
“Our athletes have been winning medals all season, and throughout the Olympic cycle, in their current helmets and we remain in a strong position to continue that trend.”
When asked about the helmet prior to the verdict, Team GB’s skeleton racers said they had no preference on which helmet they used at the Olympics.
Team GB are one of the favourites for the skeleton in Milan with overall World Cup winner Matt Weston and the also strong Marcus Wyatt set to be some of the nation’s best medal hopes.
Britain has a strong tradition in skeleton, being the most successful recent winter sport for the nation, winning gold in the women’s events with Lizzy Yarnold and Amy Williams multiple times this century.
Britain are currently second in the all-time skeleton medal table, having the joint most gold medals with the USA.
One gold more than the Americans in Milan Cortina and GB will become the most successful nation of all time in the event, good going for a nation which grinds to a halt at the sight of snow or ice.
Skeleton is a sport which the Brits had a large hand in inventing.
The story goes that British tourists and soldiers in St Moritz, Switzerland, decided that going down a sled normally wasn’t fast enough for them, opting to go head first down the mountain in classic blasé British fashion.
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