Another top-six finish for Laura Deas as skeleton and bobsleigh action returns for 2017
University of Bath-based slider Laura Deas started 2017 as she had finished 2016 – by securing a wider-podium place on the World Cup circuit.
After finishing sixth in Lake Placid in December, Deas matched that result on Friday morning in Altenberg, Germany as the international skeleton season resumed after the Christmas break.
Fellow Brit Lizzy Yarnold was ninth and slipped down to second in the overall World Cup standings after three races behind Germany’s Jacqueline Loelling, who claimed her first World Cup gold in her home country.
Yarnold and Deas sat sixth and seventh respectively at the end of the first heat, with the British pair separated by just 0.05 seconds after times of 59.32 and 59.37.
Deas produced the fastest start in both runs with times of 5.54 and 5.49 seconds and was even more consistent in her overall times as she went marginally quicker in Run 2 than she did in Run 1.
Yarnold was within touching distance of fourth at the halfway stage but slipped down the list during a snow-effected second run.
The men’s race takes place at 8.30am GMT on Saturday, with University of Bath student Dom Parsons and Jack Thomas in action for GB.
Altenberg also hosts the third bobsleigh World Cup of the season, with Mica McNeill and Mica Moore contesting the women’s two-man on Friday afternoon before the men take centre stage on Saturday and Sunday.
