Williams' gold in the skeleton matched the British Olympic Association's (BOA) aim of improving on the single silver in Turin four years ago, but not of National Lottery distributor UK Sport who had set a target of three medals.
 
UK Sport chief executive John Steele confirmed a review would be held but claimed the £6 million funding had been targeted correctly.

Steele said: "Whilst missing the medal target is disappointing, I believe that the results in Vancouver have shown that the level of our funding in the winter sports is both right and proportionate in terms of opportunity and outcome.

"It is not just about the money - but where and in who you invest it. We have always been true to our 'no compromise' principle in investing only in athletes and sports who we believe have a genuine opportunity of winning medals."

Bob skeleton received the most funding - £2.1 million over the last four years compared to £1.1 million for curling, for whom both the men's and women's teams suffered disappointment in Vancouver.

Steele said: "The fantastic performances by the members of the British bob skeleton team shows this strategy does work and medals can be won if the right programmes and athletes are in place to benefit from our support and investment.

"As is normal, we will now conduct our investment review.

"The margins between success and failure at the top of Olympic sport can be very small and while success at the Games is a vital component it is not the only consideration when making funding decisions."

Britain's last realistic opportunity for a medal ended tonight when Jon Eley finished sixth in the 500 metres at the short track speed skating.

Steele reserved special praise for Williams' achievement, the first British female individual Winter Olympics gold medalist since 1952.

He said: "The abiding memory for me of the 2010 Vancouver Olympics was the gold medal won by Amy Williams.

"It was an incredible achievement by an outstanding British athlete and will go down in history as one of the most memorable moments for British winter sport."

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