LAURA Deas has no intention of sitting on her laurels after meeting one of her goals by earning a place at next month’s Winter Olympics.

The Melksham-based slider, 29, was included in Team GB’s skeleton squad for the Games in PyeongChang and will compete alongside reigning champion Lizzy Yarnold in South Korea.

Deas, who trains at the University of Bath, has shown good form in the World Cup this season and her ambition to challenge for a medal at the Games remains undimmed.

“I’m very proud that I’m going to be representing my country at an Olympics,’’ she said. “I’ve been in the sport for nine years now and this has always been my goal.

“It’s been on the horizon for a very long time so to actually be here is very cool and a very big honour. I want to do my country proud and do my family proud.

“I’m going to PyeongChang with the intention of winning a medal. That’s been the aim through my whole career and that won’t change now that I’m here.

“I know that the people that I’m racing against at the Games are the same people I race against week in, week out on the World Cup circuit. I’ve beaten all of them at different times and I know that, if I put in my best performance, I can be on the podium.’’

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 has represented Great Britain at all three World Championships since the Sochi Games of 2014.

The former professional eventer, who had captained Wales in international competitions, was seventh in the 2015 World Championships, 11th in 2016 and 10th in 2017.

Andi Schmid, Britain’s team leader for skeleton, said: “Laura was very strong on various different tracks throughout the season and she is in great shape to do well in PyeongChang.’’