YANQING, China : As Laura Deas got ready to slide down the Yanqing ice track, the Briton knew that she was carrying the expectations of a nation that had won the women's skeleton title at the last three Winter Olympics.
On Saturday she finished a lowly 19th, almost four seconds behind German gold-medallist Hannah Neise. Her team mate Brogan Crowley finished 22nd."I think it was a really good run and I'm very proud to be finishing on that one. I think it's probably one of the best runs I've done down this track," a tearful Deas told Reuters.
That success led to a significant amount of investment being made into the sport, giving British Olympic hopefuls access to top of the range helmets, aerodynamic skinsuits and skeleton bobsleds.
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