As Neil Simpson straddled a gate at the start of his slalom run on Sunday, it perhaps summed up just how tricky these Winter Paralympics have been for Great Britain.
With just one medal won – a silver for Simpson and his guide Rob Poth in the visually impaired alpine combined – it marks the team’s worst finish from a Winter Games since Vancouver 2010, when they came home empty-handed.
At every edition in the interim, GB have won at least six medals, and with just over £7m ploughed into the sports on the Winter Paralympic programme over the past four years by UK Sport, questions can rightly be asked.
But the highs of previous Games were never expected to be achieved this time around.
Owing to a mix of injuries and an inexperienced squad – 17 of the 25-strong ParalympicsGB team were making their debut – UK Sport had set a medal range of between two and five, although there will inevitably be discontent that even the lower end was not met.
“I think it’s impossible for us to be disappointed in any of these athletes, the journey that they’ve had to get here, the level of determination and resilience to make it to a Paralympic Games is truly worth celebrating,” said UK Sport director of performance Dr Kate Baker.
“I think in many respects, these Games just came a little bit too soon for some of our athletes, so we can be excited for what is to come.
“We’re in disciplines that we’ve not been in before, we are showing there is depth coming through and real potential for the future.”
“Obviously we would have liked to see some other medal-winning performances,” added ParalympicsGB chef de mission Phil Smith. “There is lots to be positive about the Games overall.
“We know that winter sport is full of jeopardy. If you ran this week again, we could very much have been somewhere more in the middle of that target with just a little bit more luck and things turning out slightly differently.”
