Leading article: Snow-blindness

In the last Winter Olympics, it was a team of female curlers that thawed the icy hearts of a nation. This time round it is a woman who slides downhill at an incredible speed on a £3,000 tea tray. What a curious relationship Britain has with winter sports. Ever since the heyday of Eddie "The Eagle" Edwards we've had an odd attitude to pursuits that involve skill and snow.

Consider this paradox. More than one million Britons go on skiing holidays every year. As a nation we are unquestionably au fait with frosty conditions. Our favourite band is the Arctic Monkeys, for heaven's sake. And yet when one of our compatriots displays an aptitude in freezing conditions we regard it as a marvel worthy of anything unveiled by P T Barnum.

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Perhaps if we won a few more Winter Olympic medals this would change. But then again maybe we like it this way. A bit of cold comfort every four years is exactly what we want.