All or nothing attitude the only way for Ryding in PyeongChang

All out attack. That’s the approach Dave ‘the Rocket’ Ryding is taking as he prepares to fire himself right into the mix to make British skiing history.

Unlike his two previous Olympic outings in Vancouver and Sochi, slalom specialist Ryding is a serious contender, rather than an outsider, for these Games.

Testing skill, timing and judgement, the slalom event sees competitors zig zag in and out of gates, all the while trying to maintain top speed.

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Great Britain have never won an alpine skiing medal – Alain Baxter’s 2002 bronze was wiped off the records after he unwittingly took a banned substance in an over-the-counter nasal spray – and Gina Hawthorn’s fourth in the Grenoble 1968 slalom remains the best result.

It’s skeleton, not skiing, that is the nation’s adopted winter sport, with another three podium finishes bagged in Pyeongchang.

But don’t count out Ryding from sliding in on the headlines.

In January 2017 he equalled Great Britain’s best-ever World Cup finish when he won slalom silver on the famous Kitzbuhel course, matching Konrad Bartelski’s second place in the downhill in 1981.

The 31-year-old ended the 2016-2017 season ranked eighth in the world and then almost started the new one with a historic win, leading after the first run in Levi before crashing out.

“On my day I can be as fast as anyone and it’s about trying to bring that more consistently to every race, he said.

“I’ve just got to go out there and believe and attack, that’s the main thing. If you pull out what you’ve got then you’ll do alright, if you don’t you’ll get whooped.

“I’ve not had a podium this year, I’ve been really close. I’ve been leading and fallen and won second runs but I’ve not got two runs together yet.

“It’s been a battle of a season but I’m still in the fight and I’ve been mixing it with the good guys.”

Ryding certainly has the speed. Gold medal favourite Marcel Hirscher has spoken in glowing terms about his rival’s ability – indeed he fell victim to the Rocket during the New Year’s Day city slalom event in Oslo where he was beaten by the Brit over two runs before Ryding came fourth.

Then there was this season’s Kitzbuhel race where Ryding clocked the fastest time on the second run to lift himself up to ninth.

But it is consistency he is lacked this campaign – five top-ten finishes masking the mistakes that have crept into his opening runs and left him playing catch up on his rivals.

A storming first run at the Yongpyong Alpine Centre on Thursday will be much welcomed, by Ryding and his followers.

And then it will be whether he can turn the afterburners when it matters.

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“I know I can do it but my confidence has been knocked each race this year by making mistakes so I’ve just got to keep believing in myself and putting what I’ve got out there and eventually my time will hopefully come,” he added.

“It’s very much internal, I try and stay away from the hype or whatever anyone else is saying because I know myself, where I’m at, I know what I need to work on and I know exactly how I’m feeling in my skiing.

“I try not to get caught up in the moment. I know if I don’t bring my best skiing I won’t be in the medals because it’s so tight. I have to focus on what I need to do and if I get a medal then I’ll tell you what it feels like.”

Watch Dave Ryding at 10.15am on Thurs 22nd Feb on Eurosport 1 and Eurosport Player. Don’t miss a moment of the Olympic Winter Games at Eurosport.co.uk and the Eurosport app