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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
Sport
Mark Staniforth

Five to watch on skis, boards, skates and sleds as Britain target record haul

Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson are among a number of genuine British Winter Olympic medal hopes (Danny Lawson/PA) - (PA Archive)

Great Britain stand on the brink of Winter Olympic history as the 100-day milestone arrives ahead of February’s Games in Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo.

A stunning 2025 season yielded World Cup medals on skis, snowboards, sleds and skates, and put the nation in with a mighty chance of matching or surpassing its previous best Winter hauls of five medals in both 2014 and 2018.

Among an avalanche of available candidates, here the PA news agency picks out the five best hopes of making history in the Italian Alps.

Mia Brookes

Teenager Mia Brookes has already made snowboarding history (Miha Matavz/FIS/AP) (PA Media)

Brookes made history when she become the youngest ever winner of a snowboard world title at the age of 16 in 2023. The Cheshire slopestyle star, who had won the world junior title the previous year, also became the first woman to land a CAB 1440 in competition. Having also won a Big Air World Cup, Brookes boasts multiple medal hopes in Milan.

Zoe Atkin

Zoe Atkin is ready to emulate her sister and claim an Olympic medal (Angelika Warmuth via DPA) (PA Archive)

Halfpipe star Atkin is a good bet to emulate her older sister Izzy, who became Britain’s first ever Olympic medallist on skis when she won bronze in Pyeongchang in 2018. Atkin, 22, already has an X Games gold medal in the bag and will head to Milan as the reigning world ski-halfpipe champion after soaring to victory in Engadin, Switzerland, in March.

Bruce Mouat

Bruce Mouat boasts two chances of curling glory next year (Andrew Milligan/PA) (PA Wire)

Mouat’s men’s curling team have won two world titles since their near-miss in Beijing in 2022, when they were pipped to gold by Sweden’s vastly experienced Niklas Edin. The 31-year-old has led his team to the top of the world rankings and is also ranked one in the mixed doubles, along with team-mate and Beijing gold medallist Jennifer Dodds.

Brad Hall

Brad Hall, centre left, and his four-man bobsleigh crew enjoyed a glittering 2025 campaign (Andrew Milligan/PA) (PA Wire)

Britain’s hopes of a bobsleigh medal to match the retrospective bronze awarded to John Jackson after Sochi 2014 have never looked brighter after Hall piloted both his two and four-man crews to a slew of World Cup medals in 2025, including two four-man golds, underscoring his consistent ability to beat the best on the biggest stage.

Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson

Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson are ready to emulate their illustrious predecessors (Andrew Milligan/PA) (PA Archive)

Fear and Gibson made a major breakthrough in 2025 after winning a bronze medal at the World Championships in Boston in March, the first British ice dancers to do so since Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean in 1984. Not since the famous Bolero has Britain stood a better chance of seeing two skaters return to the Olympic podium.

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