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, 1.38 seconds adrift. Having watched a few sliding events now, most of us inexpert observers decided that was that, then. Game over. Might as well go back to Vancouver now.

But like all good sportsmen and women, Minichiello is refusing to give up until the handshakes.

"Until we've crossed the finish line at the end of the fourth run said the 31-year-old from Sheffield. "It's everything we've worked for, everything we've believed in. That's what we're going for and that's what we've always been going for.

"Let's see who is still surviving at the end of four runs tomorrow. Let's see who's on their game. Let's see who brings it back tomorrow."

Admirable stuff, and let's hope she's right.

Maybe this feeling of deflation is our fault. Maybe our expectations were too high. The pair, who only got together 12 months ago after Minichiello recruited former athlete Cooke on , won the World Championships in Lake Placid, USA, this time last year.

Minichiello is still confident she and Cooke can fight for a medal on Wednesday. Photo: PA

But they came into the Games ranked 13th in the world, their preparations hit by the eye problem that caused Minichiello to lose 80% of her sight - fairly crucial in a sport like bobsleigh where driving a precise line at high speed calls for super-sharp faculties. The 2005 world silver medallist has now had surgery to repair the problem - an inflamed retina - but training and track time have been hampered.

Much like Williams, Minichiello says she "loves" the Whistler track, calling it "the ultimate", and she reckons the experience of being world champions will work to their advantage in the final two runs - as long as she can overcome the nemesis that is the first bend.

"Overall, I'm driving most of the track really well," said the part-time sports teacher who was ninth in her first Olympic drive in Turin and 12th in Salt Lake City as a brakeman. "I'm just making a mistake at corner one and it's killing our speed unfortunately. So I'm a little bit frustrated with corner one, but pleased with the rest of the track.

"Being world champions just gives us the confidence to know we can beat the best in the world on our day. We'll use everything we've learnt to make sure we nail it tomorrow."

While Minichiello and Cooke are still dreaming of Olympic ironmongery, team-mates and in GB 2 were delighted to be briefly stood on the leaders' rostrum after taking an early lead in run two, particularly after overturning in training.

The Olympic debutants lie 11th, following a second run that was 0.6 secs faster than their first after brakewoman Kelly Thomas, a soldier in the British Army, injected "more oomph" into the start.

"Oh my goodness," Walker told ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Sport's Clare Balding after they were finally deposed from the leaders' podium by their team-mates. "I've never been stood on the box before."

And the 23-year-old Walker believes they can achieve their goal of a top-10 finish.

"We're now only 18 hundredths off 10th place, it's well within our reach," she said.

Before the Games, UK Sport announced a target of three British medals from the Games.

But on a day when Britain's women's curlers - also in the "possible medallists" category - crashed out, Minichiello and Cooke's halfway position suggests that might now be optimistic.

The chalice - a poisoned one, some might suggest - now passes to Britain's men's curlers. That's unless the infectiously optimistic Minichiello has her way.

"On this track, anything is still possible," she said.

Maybe that tune will return to our lips after all.