Who Is Laura Deas? Wiki, Skeleton Racer, Net Worth, Bronze Medal & Facts To Know

Laura Deas was born in 1988. She is a Welsh sports woman who is best known as a skeleton racer on the World Cup circuit. Deas represents the British Bobsleigh and Skeleton Association. She won bronze medal at the 2018 Olympic Winter Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea. Born in Wrexham, North Wales, Deas graduated from the Howell's school, Denbigh. Deas played hockey, representing the North Wales in competition, and also participated in equestrian sports, from Pony Club tetrathlon in which she was team captain for Wales. Deas loves to read in her spare time. The athlete can speak English language only. She trained in the University of Bath under coach Eric Bernotas who is on a national level. She competed in eventing professionally before switching to skeleton. She has also captained Wales in international tetrathlon competitions and also represented North Wales at hockey. She represented the National team in 2010. She took up skeleton racing in 2008, and began competing the year after that. "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 realized when I turned up at the first testing day in Bath clutching the wrong kind of spikes and probably looking very lost." She said in her athlete profile before the 2018 Olympic Winter Games. She took up the sport through the Girls4Gold talent identification program 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." Her most memorable achievement was finishing seventh at the 2015 World Championships in Winterberg, Germany, and winning the 2015 World Cup event in Altenberg, Germany. She regards the Spanish tennis player Rafael Nadal as her hero. "I go into every race wanting to win a medal." 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."

Deas was introduced into skeleton in 2009 through UK Sport's "Girls4Gold" talent identification program, and was selected to UK national team the following year. She rides a Blackroc sled and represents the British Bobsleigh. Her participation on the World Cup Circuit came in 2014/15 season. Deas won her first Europe Cup race in Winterberg in 2010 which was only her fifth international race. She was placed third in the two previous races. Deas finished at the fourth place in her only Junior World Championships, in 2011 at Park City. In March 2012, she participated at the North American Cup circuit for two races at Lake Placid, both with podium finishes. in the next two season, Deas too part in the Intercontinental Cup, where she had one third-place finish and two second-place finishes. She made her World Cup debut in the 2014–15 season, in which she not only won two medals and took seventh place in the world championships at Winterberg but also finished fifth overall. Deas achieved her first World Cup victory in the opening race of the 2015–16 season. The same season she also finished at the third place at Lake Placid and fifth at the European Championships in St. Moritz. Her best European Championship result was fourth, in 2017 at Igls. In the overall World Cup standings, Deas ended her rookie season in fifth place, with 1314 points. The next year, despite earning more points, she dropped back to seventh place and in 2016–17, 1240 points was good enough for sixth place. Deas was picked up for her first Olympic team in 2018 after finishing the World Cup season standings in seventh place which was just ahead of fellow Team GB skeletoner and defending Olympic champion Lizzy Yarnold. She won the bronze medal behind winner Yarnold and silver medalist Jacqueline Loelling.

The net worth of the skeleton racer is currently unavailable.

Laura Deas is quite active on her Instagram account @skeleton_laura_gb. She is available on Facebook @skeletonlaura. She uploads photos from her competitions on her Facebook and Instagram accounts.