The British sports and equalities minister, Helen Grant, has suggested that women should be encouraged to take up sport through cheerleading.

The 52-year-old claims that 'feminine' pursuits such as cheerleading, ballet and gymnastics can help more and more women in Great Britain to feel involved in sports.

"[Women] don't have to feel unfeminine," she told The Telegraph. "There are some wonderful sports which you can do and perform to a very high level and I think those participating look absolutely radiant and very feminine such as ballet, gymnastics, cheerleading and even roller-skating.

"We really need to take a step back and actually ask women what they want and give it to them, whether it's a Zumba class or a game of rounders after they've dropped the kids off. That's the approach we need to take – what works for them.

"It's having a good spread on offer. Some girls may well not like doing very traditional hockey, tennis or athletics, others might."

Britain have won three medals at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.