Dave "the Rocket" Ryding is a man on a mission as he bids to make British skiing history.

The 31-year-old slalom specialist is a serious contender, rather than merely an outside bet as he was at his two previous Olympic outings in Vancouver and Sochi.

Great Britain have yet to win 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. Gina Hawthorn's fourth in the Grenoble 1968 slalom remains the best result.

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

Ryder ended the 2016-2017 season ranked eighth in the world and then almost started the new one with an 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.”

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

“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.

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