By Martyn Herman
(Reuters) - For a country that does not even boast a skeleton track, Britain's record at producing Olympic medal winners in the high-speed sliding sport is phenomenal.
Since skeleton returned to the programme at Salt Lake City in 2002, British sliders have won three gold medals, three bronze and one silver.
British women have been especially dominant, having won the last three Olympic titles with Lizzy Yarnold topping the podium in 2018 and 2014 and Amy Williams in 2010.
Yarnold has since retired and Laura Deas, who took bronze four years ago in Pyeongchang, will be hoping to continue the country's medal streak in Beijing.
The 33-year-old Deas will be joined by Olympic debutantes Brogan Crowley, Matt Weston and Marcus Wyatt -- all of whom train at Bath University's concrete push track, a facility that enables sliders to perfect the all-important start.
Wyatt is a former American Football player, while Crowley was a promising heptathlete before being identified as having the attributes to slide down an icy track at speeds of 80mph.
Having the right people, the best in sports psychology and a marginal gains approach to equipment and training methods are all key to making Britain a skeleton powerhouse, says former horse rider Deas, who did not take up the sport until in her 20s.
"The biggest thing we do really well is bringing in the right athletes, finding the people to transfer from another sport into skeleton," Deas, the most experienced member of the squad, told reporters when the team was announced last week.
"We don't have a home track so we have to do lots of other things better than other nations."
In Pyeongchang a row erupted on the eve of the Games about the British team's state-of-the-art
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