Wales’ Olympic bronze medalist Laura Deas will lead the British challenge for more skeleton success this season after being named in the World Cup team.
Deas tasted Olympic glory in 2018 and now has her sights set on similar achievements on the sport’s top circuit in 2019 and 2020.
Madelaine Smith and Kim Murray join Deas in the women’s World Cup team having both competed at this level last time out, finishing the campaign ranked 11th and 18th in the world respectively.
“We’re excited by the prospect of what we can achieve on the World Cup circuit this season,” said Natalie Dunman, performance director for the British Skeleton team after the squad returned from their selection races in Norway at the end of last week.
“Laura is known as one of the best sliders on the circuit. She medalled in Calgary at the end of last season so she’ll be keen to build on that when we get going again.
“We really want to show people that we’re not just a team who shines once every four years, though: our success at Olympic level has been well documented but we’ve also got a history of winning medals on all the other circuits and we want that to continue.”
The World cup season was due to start in Park City at the end of November but that race has been switched to fellow American venue Lake Placid meaning the New York State track will host back-to-back races on December 7th and 8th and then again on December 13th.
After a break for the Christmas period, the circuit switches to Europe, with six further races scheduled for Germany (x 2), France, Austria, Switzerland and Latvia before the season’s showpiece, the World Championships, take place back in Germany in late February.
The British Skeleton team will also compete on the Intercontinental Cup (ICC) and Europa Cup (EC) circuits this season, with 2018 Olympian Jerry Rice among those taking part in ICC action and up to eight athletes in line for their international debuts at EC level after two years of training without competing.
British Skeleton World Cup team
Men: Dom Parsons, Craig Thompson, Marcus Wyatt
Women: Laura Deas, Kim Murray, Madelaine Smith
British Skeleton ICC team
Men: Jerry Rice, Stefan Squire
Women: Ashleigh Pittaway, Brogan Crowley
British Skeleton EC team
Men: Laurence Bostock, Alex Corby, Benji Fulker, Jacob Salisbury, Matt Weston
Women: Amelia Coltman, Rachel Hanagan, Hannah Stevenson