Team GB skeleton star Laura Deas backing Winter Olympics without any snow to be just as special for UK public

Laura Deas insists a Winter Olympics without any snow will not inhibit the spectacle for the adoring British public as she aims to extend Team GB’s line of skeleton golden girls.

Welsh ace Deas, 33, bagged bronze in PyeongChang four years ago and will represent Britain’s chief sliding hope when she takes to the Beijing track next month.

But the Chinese capital will be anything but a salubrious alpine winter wonderland, with the Yanqing District – where the skeleton, luge and bobsleigh events will take place – receiving just 2cm of snow between January and March last year.

That figure was less than both London and Madrid but with Beijing doused in almost 50 million gallons of water to create optimum Olympic conditions, Deas says she isn’t concerned about its impact on inspiring the next generation of sledge-fuelled talent.

Deas, one of over 1,000 who are able to train full-time, access the world’s best coaches and benefit from pioneering technology, science and medical support thanks to vital National Lottery funding, said: “I think it’s going to be an incredible event regardless of how much snow there is.

“I’m sure China will be doing their absolute best to make sure that the snow events are up to scratch and exactly what they need to be.

“And I’ve seen plenty of people in the UK sledge on hardly any snow!

“Luckily, our sliding facility is completely self-contained and is an artificially-refrigerated system. Thankfully, we don’t have to worry what the outside weather is doing as we’ve got a climate-controlled environment.

“Skeleton has become slightly more well-known since when we first started. I’m really hoping that this Olympics is the perfect shop window for potential athletes to see it and be inspired by it.

“And