• Winter Olympics

Time to start afresh

Snowboarder Zoe Gillings is one of 14 ski and snowboard athletes who will compete in Vancouver © Getty Images

Enlarge

Related Links

• Features: Ones to watch in Vancouver
  
• News: Brits' Winter Olympic challenge under threat
  

Former British skier Konrad Bartelski believes the collapse of Snowsport GB is the best thing to happen for the sport.

In a statement released on Friday, directors of the British Ski and Snowboard Federation, trading as Snowsport GB confirmed the organisation had gone into administration.

The 14 athletes selected to represent Team GB at the Winter Olympics in Vancouver will be able to compete after the International Ski Federation (FIS) endorsed the British Olympic Association's (BOA) move to mobilise "Team GB Ltd" to act as the national governing body for ski and snowboarding.

Bartelski, who competed in three Winter Olympics between 1972 and 1980, was the chairman of selectors for Snowsport GB's alpine skiing until January, when he resigned after the funding to the men's programme was cut.

"The athletes and the coaches should be first and foremost the priority," said Bartelski. "In my opinion Snowsport GB were not supporting them and that is the reason why I resigned. But now we have the chance to start afresh and from the ashes grow something that has the chance to serve the interest of the athletes."

After weeks of uncertainty, an official statement from Snowsport GB on Friday confirmed that company directors had taken "the difficult decision to place the organisation into administration with immediate effect". And Bartelski was in no doubt who was to blame for the sport's current crisis.

"In any business the buck starts at the top," he said. "It is the people who hired the chief executive to do the job in the first place who should have taken responsibility. The writing has been on the wall since 2006 - the team did not perform as well as they were expected to in Turin and as a result the funding from UK Sport was cut by 50 per cent, but the programmes were not reduced accordingly."

The BOA have moved to reassure athletes, including medal hopefuls Chemmy Alcott and Zoe Gillings, that they will have complete support as they travel to Vancouver for the Games which start on February 12.

"The fact that it has had to happen now, in the run up to the Winter Olympics is bad timing, but it was inevitable," said Bartelski. "The athletes will be doing their best not to be affected by this whole saga, but no matter how strong they are it is a distraction. It is not the way Sir Clive Woodward would have prepared his Rugby World Cup team."

BOA chairman Colin Moynihan, who will act as chairman of Team GB Ltd, insisted that the athletes would not suffer "at such a critical time". He said: ""The BOA's role is to provide services for its member sports and represent the interests of the athletes. It is with great regret that one of our governing bodies has gone into administration, particularly at such a critical time for our Olympic Team."

"It's been a difficult time for a lot of snowsport athletes, and I'm very hopeful that this will be a very positive step forward for skiers and snowboarders alike," said snowboarder Zoe Gillings. "With the Olympic Winter Games just around the corner, this is welcome good news."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.