Laura Deas is one of Britain’s leading contenders for the Winter Olympic ‘Bob Skeleton’ team. She is on course to be selected for the team which will compete in 2014 at the Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia.

With no previous experience in Skeleton, Laura was a former Pony Club Tetrathlete and three-day-eventer with an impressive record of success in various County level sports before she was ‘talent spotted‘ for the sport of Bob Skeleton in early 2009 through the ‘Girls4Gold Scheme’. "Blame my brother," says Laura, "He told me about the scheme so I decided to have a go".

Laura spent time training abroad during the winter of 2009 and had her first competitive season last winter (2010-11). Already, her ‘push’ times are on a par with the best performers in the world.

Based on her performance, Laura will be given an international ranking though a series of competitions. Last winter Laura successfully competed in the Europa Cup with two podium finishes and qualified for the Junior World Championships in January 2011, finishing in fourth place.She has just been selected for the GB team for the 2011-12 winter season. Over the next two winter seasons, she will progress to the World Cup, after which she will hopefully be selected to compete at the 2014 Olympic Games.