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Woodward: Unprecedented support
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It is time for Britain to end its love affair with heroic losers like ski-jumper Eddie Edwards according to Sir Clive Woodward.
Woodward said that performances like that of Eddie 'The Eagle' at the 1988 Winter Olympics are best forgotten rather than celebrated if Britain is to be successful.
After coming last in the 70 and 90metre ski-jumps at the Winter Games in Calgary, Cheltenham-born Edwards became a household name and the unlikely hero of the tournament.
But Woodward is now the British Olympic Association's (BOA) deputy chef de mission in charge of squad performance for the 2010 Winter Olympics.
And the mastermind behind England's 2003 Rugby World Cup victory is keen to change the nation's attitude ahead of the games in Vancouver next February.
"We have put the Eddie 'The Eagle' image behind us now," he said on Saturday.
Unprecedented
"To be brutally honest, it didn't do anything to Olympic sports in this country, summer or winter.
"It's a thing we've got to move on from and the only way to do that is to be successful."
Woodward is one of four top managers charged with giving Team GB an unprecedented level of athlete support both before and during the 2010 Winter Games.
Three medals in Vancouver would be Britain's best haul in a Winter Olympics since 1936.
And, while stopping short of making medal predictions for 2010, he has made it clear there are some strong British medal hopes.
Heroes
"All you want from your athlete as a coach or supporter is for them to get there and deliver their best performance," he added
"If we do that there is a chance that people will deliver some medals and deliver their personal bests.
"If everybody does that then the medal table will look after itself - it was like that at the Rugby World Cup.
"You must not get within this mindset that you need pots of gold to win gold medals. You can still win gold medals by doing it different ways.
"When I see what the winter athletes are going through, they are real heroes. They are doing it tough, a lot of them, but they can still win.
"You can still win by being a little bit more smart and creative than your opposition."
