Winter Olympics 2026: Why 2026 marks a historic Games for Team GB

Team GB will fly home on Monday, after which the post-Games reviews will begin, by both the British Olympic Association and the individual sports themselves.

Over the four-year cycle leading into the Milan-Cortina Games, UK Sport ploughed £25.5m into winter sports on the Olympic programme, up from £22.2m for the Beijing 2022 cycle.

The funding for the next cycle, leading up to the 2030 Games, will be confirmed and announced in the summer, though the individual sports have already received a provisional figure for planning purposes.

But while an important metric, funding isn’t just based on the number of medals won, or a reward for it. UK Sport also looks at future potential, as well as the impact and resonance on the watching British public.

Baker told BBC Sport Team GB’s athletes had gone “above and beyond” in delivering value for money, and asked how that success is now built on, she said: “The reality is we’ve been thinking about it for the past four years. Already the work is in place to build for that next Games and indeed the one after.

“We’ve got some real talent coming through, there is no shortage of British talent, and we know we can show that we can mix it with the best on the world stage when it matters.

“The next four years is about supporting that talent that’s coming through and also making sure that we do everything we can so that when they get here on finals day, they are absolutely at their best.”

UK Sport’s investment is not an ever-growing pot, however, and sports are being encouraged to work together and share resources where possible to build towards the greater good.

Gosling, whose GB Snowsport organisation received £7.3m in UK Sport funding for its 2026 Olympic programme but has had to bring in extra commercial revenue, said: “We know we have the talent and the capability and the world has now seen it.

“We can deliver medals with what we have. We have demonstrated that, but we have greater potential than we’re demonstrating right now.”

She added: “This is just the start. This is not the peak for us. There’s so much more that we can achieve. And I’m super excited because the athletes that are competing and are just near missing, are those athletes that are still very young with a great future ahead of them.

“And guess what? 2030 is just on the doorstep and we’ll be back and we’ll be showing them. Let’s hope we’ll convert those near misses to golds. The world’s our oyster.”