As President Xi Jinping prioritises sports to help achieve the ‘Chinese dream’, Beijing hopes to mint medallists in previously untried events such as luge

China creates an ‘instant’ team and hires foreign coaches to compete in the notoriously difficult winter sport

Ashley Farquharson rocks back and forth in her sled, grabs the start bars and hurtles down the icy track, hitting speeds of up to 128 kilometres per hour (80mph) before coming to rest.