Laura
Deas
Place of birthWrexham
Laura Deas won Winter Olympic Bronze in PyeongChang in February 2018 and has now made well over a century of international appearances.
Laura made history in South Korea as she and team-mate Lizzy Yarnold became the first British Winter Olympians to stand on a medal podium together in an individual event.
She won her maiden World Cup race in Altenberg in November 2015 and has two silvers and four bronze medals to her name on the sport's top circuit, with her latest podium place coming in February 2023 in Sigulda.
Laura has competed at seven World Championships, earning selection for the British team at every global showpiece from 2015 onwards and winning Team silver with Matt Weston at her most recent appearance in 2023.
She finished 19th at her second Olympics in Beijing in 2022 and had reached 121 races for Great Britain by the end of the 2022/23 season, winning more than 20 medals for her country. Laura sat out the 2023/24 season as she prepared for the birth of her first child.
Laura started skeleton back in 2009 through a UK Sport talent programme, Girls4Gold, because she loved the thought of competing at the Olympic Winter Games. Her sporting background is extensive but far from typical given that sprinting wasn’t her forte and her only running experience had been cross country.
She had been eventing professionally prior to her skeleton selection and had also excelled at tetrathlon, captaining Wales in international competitions. Laura had also played competitive netball and represented North Wales at hockey.
LAURA IN HER OWN WORDS...
- Most likely to be spotted: probably in a coffee shop reading a book
- Least likely to be found: playing computer games
- Me in three: positive, optimistic, organised
- Hero: Rafa Nadal because of his humble attitude and superb sportsmanship
- Random fact: I'd never set foot inside a gym until I got picked for British Skeleton
- If I wasn’t a slider: I'd probably still riding horses for a living
Meet the team
- Adam Baird
- Adelé Nicoll
- Alex Cartagena
- Ally Kay
- Amelia Coltman
- Arran Gulliver
- Ashlyn Bland
- Austin Milward
- Ben Riekstins
- Benji Fulker
- Brad Hall
- Callum Dixon
- Caroline Gray
- Charlotte Longden
- Corie Mapp
- Craig Thompson
- Dave Short
- Ed McDermott
- Freya Tarbit
- Graham Richardson
- Greg Cackett
- Holly Rust-March
- Issy Fassnidge
- Jacob Salisbury
- James Howard
- Jens Hullah
- John Stanbridge
- Josh Hudson
- Kane Densley
- Laurence Bostock
- Leon Greenwood
- Luka Williams
- Marc Heywood
- Marcus Wyatt
- Mark Silva
- Martins Dukurs
- Matt Weston
- Matthias Guggenberger
- Mica Moore
- Mike Muckelt
- Naomi Tomlin
- Natalie Dunman
- Niamh Lashbrook
- Nick Gleeson
- Nikki McSweeney
- Patrick Atkin
- Risqat Fabunmi-Alade
- Sean Olsson
- Tabby Stoecker
- Taylor Lawrence