Winter Olympics Gold joy and heartbreak fall

 Winter Olympics Gold joy and heartbreak fall.

These Winter Olympics in South Korea are beginning to work their magic on me. For those of us who were never quite sure what to make of snowboarding and curling I think I've been fully converted. There is a lot to be said for somersaulting in the air, back flipping, soaring into the air like the proverbial eagle and then reaching the most seemingly impossible heights before tumbling down back onto the snow with complete sure footedness without a hair out of place.

But for two of our golden Olympic heroines there were vastly contrasting emotions. You know what it's like. You wake up one day and you know how things are going to work out for you. You look out of your snow caked chalet, looking at those vast acres of snow, huge white glaciers, mountain ranges that look remarkably like a birthday cake and trees dripping with yet more combinations of ice and snow.

For Lizzy Yarnold and Elise Christie sport had once again been both cruel and totally heartless. But then in almost the same sentence it had also been extremely generous and genuinely benevolent. Sometimes it can wreak havoc with your hopes and dreams but then you begin to wonder whether conspiratorial forces are at work because you could have sworn you'd done everything in your power to be successful.

When Lizzy Yarnold punched her fists with delight after retaining her Winter Olympic skeleton gold medal, it seemed that everything in the world was right and nothing could top this moment. It all turns out for the best, you've nailed it on the day, you've re-established your skeleton supremacy and nobody can spoil that crowning moment when they drape that gold medal around your neck. You knew you could do it and you knew were good enough and Yarnold must have almost presumed that all she had to do was turn up with her skeleton and breeze through effortlessly to another gold.

The smile on Yarnold's face was as wide as a snow swept valley and she must have thought this was the archetypal fairy tale story, the result of all that hard, relentless training on cold, dark mornings. We know everything there is to know about Olympian sacrifice and dedication. It is one of the major requirements for those Olympic athletes who aspire to be the very best. For Lizzy Yarnold Olympic history had gloriously repeated itself and for the moment at least South Korea is the greatest country in the world. Who knows she may fall in love with South Korea on a more permanent basis?

Sadly though for Elise Christie it all went brutally wrong. It may not have been the end of the world but for our Elise this was nothing short of a disaster. In her first attempt at the 1500m semi final in the speed skating event Christie came tearing out of the blocks like a woman in a frantic hurry. She slid across the ice, thrust herself aggressively towards the front, pushing, jostling and determined to make her mark. Then at the first corner Christie lost her footing. slipping awkwardly and horribly before crashing nastily into the wall. Her face said it all.

There are times during the career of any sportsman and woman when words become almost worthless and superfluous. Poor Elise Christie pulled up sharply in an agonised grimace, her face torn with raw pain and grief. She slumped forward, grasping at something, anything that would offer instant consolation. But then there was the realisation that the entire universe can be a very lonely place, the darkest of holes, an empty chasm where the hollow echoes of defeat reverberate in the mind like a haunting bell.

And then just to make matters even worse Christie was given another chance and after barging her way desperately past her fellow racers, there seemed to be a hint of illegality. Christie was almost immediately disqualified again and once again injured into the bargain. The sight of Christie being carried off the ice will remain one of the saddest seen in any sporting arena. She knew she'd thrown it away, her Olympic day in the sun no more than a melted snowball. She was disgusted with herself, utterly distraught and hoping that the ground would swallow her up.

So there we are. Two British Olympic women had once again summed up the woes and jollities that sport can so often throw up when least expected. With every passing day this Winter Olympics has given us sport at its most gripping, intriguing and mysterious. Some of us are still grappling with the intricacies of curling, a sport whose only focal point seems to be a sweeping brush and a heavy stone. But wonder of wonders it does look great fun and you somehow find yourself drawn into the spectacle.

When the closing ceremony for these Winter Olympics dawns shortly we shall miss the brave, the heroic, the fearless and daring. The Olympic flame will once again flicker and vanish into the mists of history and the citizens of PyeongChang will zip up their thick coats, smile warmly at the memories of February 2018 and then remember two British women by the name of Lizzy Yarnold and Elise Christie. We'll never forget them.