Chemmy Alcott has no doubt Dave Ryding can follow up his historic World Cup slalom victory in Kitzbuhel with Winter Games glory.
Ryding, 35, became the first Brit to win an alpine World Cup event when he triumphed in the fabled Austrian ski town.
And former Olympic skier Alcott said: “What Dave has done is huge for skiing in Britain.
“We’ve shown we have talent, drive and determination but now we’ve got the back-up of evidence.
“It is difficult and challenging to be a ski racer from the UK, it can take a lot of sacrifice, but Dave has gone out there and shown first of all that it’s worth it, it’s possible, and secondly what has done will open the door for so many more people to get into the sport.
“There’s not a harder working athlete out there than Dave, he ticks every box and has done for the last 10 years, so he was owed this victory.
“And the timing of it was perfect because in Schladming, you could still see he was struggling with fatigue and the emotional drain of it being so soon from that victory.
“He has now had time to go home and take it all in.
“He’s a really mature athlete — obviously he’s the oldest winner of a World Cup in slalom ever — and that maturity and experience will really help him in China.
“No one has seen the hill before, it will be unique terrain that no one has skied on.
“Usually, all the big dogs will have gone out and trained on it but it’s fresh for everyone, so he’s in amongst it.
“The competition level in the men’s slalom is outrageous.
“We’ve had six slaloms this winter and six different winners, so there are probably 15 different guys who could go to Beijing and win gold, and one of those is definitely Dave Ryding.”
Ryding finished 20th in Schladming but fellow Olympian Billy Major finished 18th to score his first World Cup points.
Alcott added: “I’m really excited for Billy after his top 20.
“To go and qualify for your first ever second run and make that run into the top 20 shows how strong he is mentally.
“I’ve been watching him training recently and he’s so strong, and with all the pressure on Dave he can go under the radar.”
Charlie Guest and Alex Tilley complete Team GB’s alpine ski team, and Alcott said: “Charlie is skiing really well.
“I’ve had lots of talks with her about the opportunity because the field is reduced, she’s going to be starting up there and it’s going to be an exciting race.
“She has promised she’s going to go all out.
“Alex is on the comeback from injury so in a way she has the freedom like Billy because the expectations are low.
“She’s an incredible skier so I want her to go out there and deliver.”
The Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games will be on BBC TV, BBC iPlayer, radio and online from Friday 4 February.
