it takes a special kind of athlete to succeed at the winter olympics. traditionally, british success has been sporadic at best. but in recent years, team gb has finallyjoined the party. lizzie yarnold is the olympic champion! there were four gb medals during sochi 2014. that could be upgraded to a record haul of five. british athletes are winning more major medals now than at any point in history. there is every chance that pyeongchang 2018 in south korea could be great britain's best ever games. one of britain's best medal prospects is elise christie, competing in three events. since the last games, she has become a world champion. she is looking to put her olympic demons firmly behind her after a devastating sochi 2014.

oh, they've gone down, they've all gone down! i can't believe it! christie's been penalised again. it's been tough. i can't even describe how hard it was. i suffered a lot after it, in my normal life too. i had a crash at the game. i received a lot of death threats and online abuse from the south koreans. it changed me as a person. you know, i lost a lot of confidence from it. but since then i have actually had a massive turnaround. christie, the first british woman to win a short track world title! people became fans and they were really sorry for how people had treated me. and actually the majority of the south koreans really support me. i think it's nice to see how much i've moved forward since then. i'm a totally different skater.

i've developed so much. i don't know how i'll survive if it happens again and i have a terrible olympics and i mess it up. when i go to the olympics, i'm hoping to win a gold medal. i definitely want it more than anything else. but at the same time, part of me does need it, just with what happened in sochi and to get redemption for what mistakes i made. if i won a gold, it would be incredible, indescribable. the british bobsleigh four—man team finished fifth, an agonising 0.11 seconds from the medals at sochi 2014. but they are in line for an upgrade to bronze following the disqualification of two russians for doping offences. corruption on an unprecedented scale. 1,000 russian athletes are accused of doping. the russian government organised and directed a sophisticated doping programme.

from london 2012 through to sochi 2014 and beyond. great britain look set to win a bobsleigh bronze medal, the ioc banned three more russian athletes for doping. we've been stolen our moment, basically. i feel like we fought so hard, knowing we were good enough to get on the podium. it's hard to take. as we're seeing across all sports in the world right now, this is happening all too frequently. it's a really sad state. it would have been a massive family achievement, more than anything. there's no escaping that, it would have been different. the funding would have been much higher. obviously, the personal reward of it. potentially, though, there would have been opportunities for us to further our careers. we did come third but until

we've got the medal... how much would you like it to be resolved by pyeongchang? one of the things that is mentioned is, how do you feel about your moment being stolen away from you? in some cases, that could be corrected by being presented the medal in the pyeongchang. silver for great britain. bronze last week. you have another chance to do it at the games themselves. the team is going in the right direction? it is. previously there had been one competitive team, now there is two. the possibilities are huge for this team. we are going to get a podium. the british four—man team from sochi 2014 should learn whether they will receive a retrospective bronze medal by late january. sliding sports won't enter the winter paralympics until beijing 2022. but for pyeongchang 2018, britain

possess some medal prospects. here are some of the ones to watch. like britain's wheelchair curlers, its gb olympic curlers have enjoyed plenty of medal success at recent games. like britain's wheelchair curlers, its gb olympic curlers have enjoyed plenty of medal success at recent games. the women won bronze and the men silver at sochi 2014, and both collected european honours in the last few months, suggesting that they are in career—best form. and both teams will be boosted by the presence... eve will skip the women's team, whilst her older and younger brothers will line up for the team gb men. competing alongside my brothers will make it exciting and extra special. it's not every day you can compete at the olympic games alongside two of your brothers with great britain

on your back and family watching and that makes it really exciting. i guess there is a little bit of added pressure, having been medallists before, you kind of have that podium to kind of step up to. but there's nothing stopping us being as good as we were last time, if not even better. the winter olympics have been revitalised by freestyle skiing and snowboarding events in the 21st century. and at the last games, great britain claimed a first—ever winter olympic medal on the snow, withjennyjones claiming a bronze medal. although she isn't competing any more, there's still plenty to be excited about. ski sunday's ed leigh has more. i've spent more than a quarter of the century reporting on winter sport, and i can say hand on heart, going into pyeongchang, britain has never had

so many medal contenders. the first one you have to talk about is katie ormerod, she just missed out on sochi four years ago, and in the period since she has established herself as one of the best slopestyle riders on the female tour. the next rider you have to talk about is billie morgan, the first man to land the hallowed trick in snowboarding right now, billy is another serious contender. jamie nicholls is my dark horse. he is pound for pound one of the best rail riders in the world, and has been working hard on hisjump tricks. he is now a brilliant all—round rider. he could be a serious hope for a medal. we can't forget about the skiers. there is no shortage of talent in that corner either. james woods is top of the list. fifth in sochi whilst carrying a hip injury, the last 12 months have been a brilliant build—up to the games. he has had world cup goals. izzie atkin is an ex—american skier

who claimed third in slopestyle at the world championships. katie summerhays has bagged a silver. i'm very excited about team gb's prospects in pyeongchang. so, there's certainly plenty of medal potential from a freestyle perspective. next, we take a look at the other prospects on the path to pyeongchang. britain has struggled in alpine skiing for decades, but slalom specialist dave riding now has world cup success to his name. this athlete will be competing in her fourth olympics, the first as a mother. she gave birth to her daughter, leah, in 2016, and is already training herfor a future in the sport. ice dancers penny combs and nick buckland and have been one of sport's most unlucky in recent years. he needed heart surgery before the last olympics, and combs shattered her knee in 2016.

but they are back on the up. andrew musgrave is on top of his game, and competes at one of the olympics' toughest events, cross—country skiing. the british bobsleigh women's team had all of their financial support pulled months before the game. but a crowdfunding campaign saw them raise over £40,000. also keep an eye out for this skeleton athlete. she has won world cup honours in recent years and will be looking to make an impact on her olympic debut. britain's leading slider remains lizzie yarnold, the olympic champion from sochi 2014, who has taken a one year career break since the last games. she has returned refreshed, but has struggled to find the consistency of old. lizzie yarnold is the olympic champion! oh, my goodness! since i was a little kid i always wanted to go to the olympics. to say i am an olympian

and a gold—medallist, it's mind blowing. i think after sochi, there was this niggling feeling that i hadn't been world cup champion, i hadn't been world champion or european champion. my mind skipped immediately to that. to be able to achieve all four titles within two seasons, 407 days, was awesome. but i was so exhausted. so i'm really glad that i did take that time off. training was a lot harder than i had remembered. it'sjust constant. everything we do is in a basement of a gym, just lifting weights, trying to get stronger, trying to get faster. i think the past 18 months have been very up and down. lizzie yarnold takes the bronze medal! she's way back in tenth, 11th spot, i'm surprised! the olympic champion may struggle to get a second heat after that run. at the moment, my results are not

where i want them to be. i'll believe in myself and have confidence. the goal of trying to become the first british winter olympian to retain my title is so motivating. that's what gets me out of bed every morning. as you've been seeing, we have more medal prospect for great britain in winter sports than at any point in history. there is every chance that pyeongchang 2018 could be record—breaking game for great britain. it will not be quite at the winter

olympics but we will see some of wintry weather through the night with rain, sleet and snow spreading from the south particularly across wales, the midlands and fringing in the northern england stop some snow through the night, most settling snow on the high ground. up towards the north—west, clearing skies. could be some icy stretches to start tomorrow morning. the most unpleasant across the south—east. a strong northerly winds which could cause some disruption. further west, brighter skies. a scattering of wintry showers. thursday, actually start with some ice. it stays cold through the day but we will see some

sunshine on friday with stronger winds and out rates of rain. i wish you a very good night. this is bbc world news. our top stories: vladimir putin's supporters nominate him to run as an independent candidate in next year's russian elections. his political rival is barred from standing. counting votes in liberia's presidential election, where former world footballer of the year, george weah, is seeking the country's top job. peru's former leader, who was serving a long prison sentence for human rights abuses and corruption, asks for forgiveness, after receiving a presidential pardon. iam aware i am aware that the results produced by my government were well received by my government were well received by some but i recognise that i have let others down. to them, i ask for forgiveness from the bottom of my heart. and english footballer harry kane

smashes a 22—year—old record