The Kerr siblings won European bronze this season

Britain will take its biggest team of ice skaters for 16 years to the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.

There will be representation in ladies singles, pairs and ice dancing in Canada next February.

And the men's and women's curling teams have also qualified, after the men won World Championship gold and the women finished in the top 10.

Mike Hay, BOA Olympic performance manager said: "Our aim is to have a competitive and credible team."

The British Olympic Association has set the qualifying standard higher than the minimum set by the sports' international federations and the International Olympic Committee.

Hay, a former Olympic gold curling coach, added: "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.

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"We have agreed with sports to raise the Olympic qualifying standard to reflect this aspiration."

Team GB are aiming to take about 50 athletes in six sports and 11 disciplines to the Games, which run from the 12-28 February.

But most of the team will not be confirmed until the beginning of 2010.

They have had a successful winter season with world Championship golds in men's curling and women's bobsleigh.

Amy Williams and Adam Pengilly won silver medals at the Skeleton World Championships.

Zoe Gillings finished on the podium in a World Cup snowboard-cross race, with Jon Eley doing likewise in 500m short-track speed skating.

And Sinead and John Kerr grabbed bronze in the European Figure Skating Championships.

Team GB are upbeat about their chances of surging up the Winter Olympics medal table.

Highly-rated statistician Luciano Barra expects GB to finish 16th in the table, with a gold, silver and bronze medal.

If Barra's predictions are realised it would be Great Britain's best medal return since 1936.

At the last Winter Games in Turin in 2006, Shelley Rudman's skeleton silver was GB's only success.

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