Laura DEAS

Great Britain

Skeleton

Date of Birth: 19 Aug 1988

Age: 33

Gender: Female

Place of birth: WREXHAM

Birth Country:

Great Britain

Residence Country:

Great Britain

Events and Medals
Records
Schedule
Bio
General Interest
Milestones

Events and Medals

Discipline	Event	Rank	Medal
Skeleton	Women	19

Schedule

Start Time	Location	Event	Status
	Yanqing National Sliding Centre	Women Official Training Heat 1	Finished
After Heat 1	Yanqing National Sliding Centre	Women Official Training Heat 2	Finished
	Yanqing National Sliding Centre	Women Official Training Heat 3	Finished
After Heat 3	Yanqing National Sliding Centre	Women Official Training Heat 4	Finished
	Yanqing National Sliding Centre	Women Official Training Heat 5	Finished
After Heat 5	Yanqing National Sliding Centre	Women Official Training Heat 6	Finished
	Yanqing National Sliding Centre	Women Heat 1	Finished
	Yanqing National Sliding Centre	Women Heat 2	Finished
	Yanqing National Sliding Centre	Women Heat 3	Finished
	Yanqing National Sliding Centre	Women Heat 4	Finished

Biographical Information

Highlights

Athlete:

Historical Results

Olympic Games
Rank	Event	Year	Location	Result
3	Women	2018	PyeongChang, KOR	00:03:27.900

World Championships
Rank	Event	Year	Location	Result
4	Mixed Team	2021	Altenberg, GER	1:55.98
7	Women	2015	Winterberg, GER	3:51.53
10	Women	2017	Koenigssee, GER	2:37.21
11	Mixed Team	2020	Altenberg, GER	1:56.81
11	Women	2016	Igls, AUT, AUT	3:38.41
15	Women	2021	Altenberg, GER	3:56.76
19	Women	2020	Altenberg, GER	3:59.89

World Cup Rankings
Season	Women
2021/22	20
2020/21	10
2019/20	13
2018/19	12
2017/18	7
2016/17	6
2015/16	7
2014/15	5

World Cup - Best Achievements
Season	Women
2021/22	1 x 14th, 1 x 17th, 1 x 18th
2020/21	1 x 5th, 1 x 6th, 1 x 8th
2019/20	1 x 10th, 1 x 11th, 1 x 12th
2018/19	1 x 3rd, 1 x 5th, 1 x 6th

Ten Best World Cup Performances in Current Season
Rank	Event	Season	Location	Result
14	Women	2021/22	Sigulda, LAT	1:46.09
17	Women	2021/22	St. Moritz, SUI	2:20.48
18	Women	2021/22	Altenberg, GER	2:02.22
20	Women	2021/22	Innsbruck, AUT	1:49.53
20	Women	2021/22	Innsbruck, AUT	1:50.38
21	Women	2021/22	Altenberg, GER	59.46
21	Women	2021/22	Winterberg, GER	57.68

Hobbies:

Reading and drinking coffee. (thebbsa.co.uk)

Occupation:

Athlete

Languages spoken:

English

Club name:

British Bobsleigh & Skeleton Association

Coach:

National: Eric Bernotas (USA)
Personal: Eric Bernotas (USA)

Other sports:

Competed in eventing professionally before switching to skeleton. Captained Wales in international tetrathlon competitions (modern pentathlon without fencing) and represented North Wales at hockey. (Info 2018)

Debut:

2014 World Cup in Lake Placid (12th)

National team:

2010

Start:

Took up skeleton in 2008, and began competing the following year. "My brother heard about the UK Sport talent search on the radio, so I went down to one of the events in Manchester and did all the tests, and a couple of weeks later I got a letter saying come to Bath to try skeleton. I wasn't the likeliest candidate, and this was quickly realised when I turned up at the first testing day in Bath clutching the wrong kind of spikes and probably looking very lost." (Info 2018)

Reason:

Took up the sport through the Girls4Gold talent identification programme run by UK Sport. "I came from a sporting background, but definitely not a sprinting one. At the time (2008) I was pursuing eventing (equestrian) as a career, and my only running experience had been of muddy fields in cross-country races. Still, I put everything I had into all the tests and was lucky enough to get picked for the ice trials in Lillehammer. Hitting the ice for the first time was an incredible experience. The sensation of metal on ice underneath you with almost no friction and continual acceleration was completely addictive, and quickly overrode the fear of having no brakes." (Info 2018)

Ambition:

To win a second Olympic medal, at the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games. "Pulling on Team GB (Great Britain) kit always makes me feel like I can do something special and, heading to Beijing, I will be aiming to do just that." (bbc.com, 19 Jan 2022)

Training:

Trains at the Team Bath Sports Training Village at the University of Bath, where the British Bobsleigh & Skeleton Association is based, and is home to Britain's only bobsleigh and skeleton push-start track. (teambath.com; Instagram, 3 Aug 2020)

Hero:

Tennis player Rafael Nadal (ESP), two-time Olympic champion, winner of 21 Grand Slam men's singles titles, the most in history. (thebbsa.co.uk; olympics.com, 20 Jan 2022)

Philosophy:

"I go into every race wanting to win a medal." (Info 2018)

General Interest

BEIJING 2022 OLYMPIC TRACK
Finds the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games track a unique track. "It's absolutely beautifully constructed and it's an architectural masterpiece which is absolutely stunning. It's completed enclosed as well so it's properly state of the art and everyone was completely wowed by it." (wsportsalliance.com, 8 Nov 2021)

FROM EVENTING TO SKELETON
She credits her speed in picking up the sport to her experience competing professionally in eventing. "Although it doesn't seem particularly obvious, there's a lot of cross-over between riding and skeleton because a lot of both sports is about feeling what's going on underneath you, making quick decisions, having good balance, timing and rhythm. I think my background in riding really helped me take to skeleton quite quickly." (Info 2018)

Milestones

Olympic bronze medallist at the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Winter Games. Became the first Welsh woman to win a Winter Olympic medal. Shared the podium with Olympic gold medallist Lizzy Yarnold (GBR), defending her Olympic title at PyeongChang 2018.

Best individual result at the 2015 World Championships is seventh.

2015 World Cup winner in Altenberg. Has 11 top-five finishes, finishing on the podium five times.

Placed fourth at the 2017 European Championships in Innsbruck. Missed out on the podium by just 0.01 seconds, finishing behind Janine Flock (AUT).

Two back-to-back victories at the Intercontinental Cup in the 2018/19 season (Winterberg). Finished second twice.

Social Media

Legend

:: Gold Medal Event

Timing and scoring provided by OMEGA. Results powered by Atos