Britain tends to be even worse at the Winter Olympics than in most other major sports championships. We don’t have much snow, we don’t have many ice rinks, and hence we don’t get many medals. Women’s curling is normally about as fun as it is supposed to get.

But today up pops a bright young prospect who managed to win a silver medal in the women’s skeleton bob – Shelley Rudman (pictured). Article from The Times about it here. It’s the first silver the UK has won since something like 1936! Skeleton is a sport where you throw yourself at about 80km/h down a bobsleigh track head first, but in typical British style things have not really gone to plan prior to the games. The kit for skeleton costs about ??4000 (??6000) but it needed appeals in Rudman’s home village of Pewsey in Wiltshire to get the cash together to even buy what she needed. But with all the locals cheering in the pub in the village live on national television it looks like quite a decent investment. So not only was it a triumph, but over adversity too!

So bring on the curling finals! UK will be shooting up the medals table…