Winter Olympics: Laura Deas on GB innovation, medal & a Lizzy Yarnold mug

Laura Deas became the first Welsh medallist at a Winter Olympics in 2018

Four years after stunning the skeleton world with their hi-tech skinsuits, Team GB are again bringing an "extra certain something" with them to pursue more Olympic medals at Beijing 2022.

GB have won medals every time skeleton has been in the Games - nine in seven.

"We've learnt to innovate because we are often making up for the fact we don't have a home track," 2018 bronze medallist Laura Deas told BBC Sport.

"We're underdogs in these situations, so we've got to find ways round it."

We will have to wait to find out what they might be introducing, but in a sport where hundredths of a second make a huge difference to standings, any tiny aerodynamic improvements can reap big rewards.

And Great Britain have a history of bringing in tweaks at just the right time - take the skinsuits at Pyeongchang 2018 that the sport's governing body had to confirm were legal after questions from other countries.

"It's expected by now that we will bring something special with us to the Olympics because that's how we operate," said Deas, who finished third four years ago behind Britain's double Olympic champion Lizzy Yarnold.

"We are not operating at 100% week in week out all through the Olympic cycle, we do aim to peak for the Olympics so of course there are things that we'll be bringing out that we may not have used in World Cups previously.

"So that's exciting, it brings a lot of confidence knowing we've got an extra certain something to come."

Welsh slider Deas had an up-and-down season in 2021-22, finishing 20th in the women's World Cup rankings.

The 33-year-old is joined at Beijing 2022 by Brogan Crowley, Matt Weston and Marcus Wyatt, who are all making their Olympic debuts at the Yanqing sliding centre.

'I've got Lizzy's face on a mug here'

Laura Deas (left) and Lizzy Yarnold were on the podium at Pyeongchang 2018

As the only member of the team to have been to a previous Games, Deas says she is able to give advice to the others and also draw on her experience to give herself confidence.

She also had a "quiet moment" with her bronze medal before she set off for China.

"I got it out of the drawer and had a look just to remind myself to take confidence in what happened before and to take that positivity with me to these ones. I didn't dare bring it!" she said.

But what she did bring with her was a mug bearing the face of Yarnold.

"She's here, she's with me in spirit," Deas laughed. "We chat a lot, we spoke just before I came out. I think she knows I know what I'm doing."

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