SMALL teams can be beautiful, according to Scot responsible for Great Britain's Winter Olympic preparations.


Mike Hay coached Rhona Martin to curling gold at the 2002 Olympic Winter Games in Salt Lake and now works as the British Olympic Association's performance manager for winter sports.


This week the BOA unveiled their most stringent qualifying standards ever for next year's Vancouver Games - guidelines that have already been criticised as too harsh by some competitors.


Great Britain expect to take approximately 50 athletes to Canada - ten more than attended the 2006 Olympic Winter Games in Turin.


And Hay is confident in the quality over quantity approach will deliver the goods.


"Our aim is to have a competitive and credible team based on one overarching principle - we want to have a team of athletes whose minimum target should be to finish in the top half of the field at the Olympic Winter Games," he said.


"We have agreed with sports to raise the Olympic Qualifying Standard to reflect this aspiration.


"We set our standards high, which means some sports have Olympic qualifying standards that are much higher than the minimum level set by both their own International Federation and the International Olympic Committee.


"In setting our standards, we have made some exceptions that may allow an athlete's participation for vital performance experience.


"But only if they are of the right age profile and have the ability to be in peak form for the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games."