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British Olympic Association officials are learning first-hand about the cause and consequence of home advantage at the Winter Olympics in Vancouver.

With the London 2012 Games just under 900 days away, the BOA's performance team are closely monitoring how hosts Canada deal with the pressure of medal expectancy.

This is the third time Canada has hosted the Olympics but they'd never won a gold on home soil until Alexandre Bilodeau's moguls triumph earlier this week.

They've invested millions into an Own the Podium' campaign but some high-profile names have buckled under the intense pressure.

Jennifer Heil settled for silver despite being heavily tipped to win the women's moguls title while skeleton slider Mellisa Hollingsworth spectacularly flunked in her event.

The dominant force on the World Cup circuit had 500 runs on the Whistler Sliding Centre track to her name but was upstaged by Great Britain's Amy Williams.

And these are lessons BOA chief executive Andy Hunt intends to learn from.

"We talk a lot about the home advantage but there is also the home disadvantage - as we've seen with Mellisa Hollingsworth," he said.

"The pressure and expectation on her was absolutely immense and it's something we need to think about in the run-up to London.

"We need to make sure we have given people as much experience as possible, in an assimilated kind of environment, for the pressure they are going to be under.

"It's very hard to do because you don't get this on the normal international circuit but we've got to get it right."

Five-time Olympic champion Sir Steve Redgrave is part of the BOA's team in Vancouver and is advising Sir Clive Woodward, the organisation's performance chief, about the best way to prepare athletes for the pressure of the Games.

"You can really feel the pressure on the Canadians and there are a lot of lessons here for London 2012," he said.

"I'm a pretty experienced Olympian but I've no idea what it's like to compete at a home Olympics.

"There have certainly been some interesting things to take away from Vancouver in terms of our preparation for London."

Meanwhile, Redgrave predicted skeleton gold would fire up the British team, with further medals chances to come in bobsleigh, short track speed skating and curling.

"It's a huge boost, we're a great nation of winter sports lovers but it's very difficult for us to compete on the world circuit because of both our funding and our climate," he added.

"The athletes in the village are buzzing now. We always hoped we might get a skeleton medal but for that to be a gold one is just very, very impressive.

"The team are thrilled and some of them will now be thinking why can't I do that?'

"We've got a couple more chances and Amy's win was much-needed for team morale."

Follow the Winter Olympics 24/7 on British Eurosport (Sky 410 / Virgin 521) and Eurosport HD (Sky 412). British Eurosport channels are streamed online via the Eurosport Player.

More Than The Games / Eurosport