The Team GB Skeleton suits cost £6.5m - and it's paying off

Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it’s Team GB’s Lizzy Yarnold flying down the PyeongChang track on her skeleton, securing a Winter Olympics gold medal, backed up by bronzes for Laura Deas and Dom Parsons.

The technology used in Team GB’s equipment has created something of a buzz — not all of it flattering — with no expense spared at home.

The GB skeleton team received funding of £6,549,617 for the Games in South Korea, almost double the amount for the four years leading up to Sochi 2014.

Much of that went on making Yarnold and her team as aerodynamic as possible.

Each athlete went through a 3D laser scan, so suit manufacturers could create bespoke, close-fitting suits for each rider, reducing the amount of loose material.

Their equipment also utilised drag-resistant ridges, saving the athletes an estimated half a second as they sped down — the aerodynamic force opposing them was incrementally reduced.

Every little helps.

Rivals complained but the suits were ratified by the sport’s chiefs after the British team’s lawyer spoke with the authorities to ensure no rules were violated.

Losers talk, and winners, it turns out, fly.