MELKSHAM'S Laura Deas has been selected for her first Winter Olympic Games after being named in Team GB's four-strong skeleton squad for next month's Games in South Korea.

Deas, who ended the World Cup season seventh in the rankings, won her maiden World Cup race in Altenberg in November 2015 and added a bronze medal in Placid the following January.

Having started skeleton in 2009 through the UK Sport talent programme, Girls4Gold, she will be making her first appearance at the Winter Games in PyeongChang, having represented Great Britain at all three World Championships since Sochi.

She was seventh in the 2015 World Championships, 11th in 2016 and 10th in 2017.

The 29-year-old was sixth in the world rankings in 2016/17, seventh in 2015/16 and fifth in 2014/15.

A former professional eventer, who had captained Wales in international competitions, Deas won her maiden World Cup race in Altenberg in November 2015 and added a bronze medal in Placid the following January.

She was fifth in the first two races of this season and was only outside of the top 12 in one of the eight World Cup races.

She joins reigning Olympic champion Lizzy Yarnold in the women's skeleton competition, Yarnold aiming to become the first British Winter Olympian to retain her title, with her success in Sochi four years ago following on from gold for Amy Williams in 2010, silver for Shelley Rudman in 2006 and bronze for Alex Coomber in 2002.