“It’s been an amazing journey” – Olympic medallist Laura Deas confirms her retirement from skeleton
Olympic medallist Laura Deas has announced her retirement from skeleton after an outstanding career that saw her make more than a century of appearances on the international stage.
She has been based at the University of Bath with the British Bobsleigh and Skeleton Association since 2009 and enjoyed her proudest moment in February 2018 when she won a brilliant bronze at the Winter Olympic Games in PyeongChang.
It was a historic moment too as she and team-mate Lizzy Yarnold, who successfully defended the title she had won in 2014, became the first British Winter Olympians to stand on a medal podium together in an individual event.
Deas also won seven World Cup medals – including gold at Altenberg in November 2015 – and fittingly stood on the podium in what proved to be the last race of her career when she won team silver with Matt Weston at the 2023 World Championships.
She took a break after becoming a mum for the first time in April 2024 and has now decided to officially retire from a sport she first took up after being identified through the Girls4Gold UK Sport talent programme.
“If someone had told me at the start of my career that I’d go on to achieve what I have, I don’t think I would have believed them but, to be honest, I wouldn’t have embarked on the journey of trying to become a top-level skeleton athlete if I didn’t believe it was possible,” said Deas, who competed at a second Olympic Games in Beijing in 2022.
“It’s been an amazing journey and I’m retiring with some incredible memories. PyeongChang is the obvious highlight but it’s not just about the medal and the history for Team GB – so many of our friends and family and British supporters were able to be out there so it was just the most incredible atmosphere at the finish line.”
Deas has been highly supportive of the University of Bath during the 16 years she has trained there, describing it as “my second home”, and, in her role as a UK Anti-Doping Athlete Commission member, has supported Clean Sport Weeks on campus.
