'I am in the mindset I will have to do or die' - can Dave 'The Rocket' Ryding rescue GB's nightmare games?

ByIbrahim Mustapha

Updated 14/02/2022 at 15:46 GMT

"If it still happens that there are no medals when Wednesday comes I will be extra motivated." After becoming the first Brit to win a race on the Alpine skiing World Cup, Dave Ryding has his sights set on a possible first Olympic medal in the sport for his nation. Watch every moment of Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022 on discovery+.

At this point of the games, Team GB’s medal hopes seem more theoretical than something that might actually come to pass.

As we enter the final few days of action, the odds on a first blank slate since the Albertville games of 1992 get shorter and shorter but one man is determined to make sure that unwanted accolade is avoided.

On Wednesday, Dave Ryding takes to the slopes in the men’s slalom perhaps with the hopes of a nation on his shoulders.

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At 35, Ryding is competing in his fourth Games and is determined to improve on his ninth-place finish in Pyeongchang four years ago.

He also comes into Beijing buoyed by his historic win in Kitzbuhel in January, becoming the first Briton to win a race on the Alpine skiing World Cup.

"If it still happens that there are no medals when Wednesday comes I will be extra motivated," he said.

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After being selected as one of his nation's flag bearers for the opening ceremony, a defiant Ryding is refusing to allow the fortunes – or misfortune – of his fellow Brits to affect his mindset ahead of his own event, and hopes he can turn the tide on what has been a disappointingly barren Games.

"Obviously we probably would have liked to medal already but these things are not just given out – there are a lot of open sports where anything can happen.

"It is easy to watch and delve on the negatives but it isn’t all doom and gloom. I have seen much worse situations. As Brits we stick together and we are a hardy nation.”

‘The Rocket’ who learned to ski on a dry slope in his native Lancashire finished 27th in Vancouver in 2010 and followed it up with a 17th-place finish four years later in Sochi.

Pyongchang saw more improvement as he achieved Britain’s best Alpine skiing result for 30 years and Ryding says he is ready to go all out this year to get on the podium.

"There is no point going for another ninth,” he added. “I may as well try to go better, and with slalom the only way is to risk it.

“The winner will take it all, and I have to go for it. There is no reason why not.

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"I am going to have to risk more than normal, but I am in the mindset that I will have to do or die.

“I will dig even deeper. I will do what I can. It is part of sport. I have been in positions where it is not going well for me and I have dug something out.

“Who knows? We give it our all."

The slalom first run takes place on Wednesday at 02:15 UK time.

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Watch every moment of Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022 on discovery+.

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