Study predicts record medal haul for Britain at Winter Olympics

LONDON: Britain are traditionally also-rans at the Winter Olympics but a statistical study has predicted the team will win a record-breaking six medals at the Sochi Games next month.

Infostrada Sports, who conducted the study, believe Team GB will have their greatest Winter Olympics by scooping one gold medal, two silvers and three bronzes. That would eclipse the one medal won at each of the previous two Games in Vancouver and Turin and surpass Britain`s best effort in Chamonix in 1924 when they finished with a total of four. The study, based on recent results and form, estimates that Lizzy Yarnold and Shelley Rudman will take gold and silver in the skeleton event. The company also said on its website (www.infostradasports.com) there would be a curling silver for the women and a bronze for the men while freestyle skier James Woods and speed skater Elise Christie would both win a bronze. Yarnold goes to Sochi on the back of three World Cup victories and five podium finishes this season. "Going from one podium to the next race-by-race is a confidence boost every time," she told BBC radio recently. "All the experience I gain - each race, each week and each session - plays a massive part in my future success." UK Sport will next week announce its medal targets for Sochi. Infostrada were eerily accurate when they predicted 64 medals for Team GB in the 2012 London Summer Olympics - the team won 65.