DEAS TAKES BRONZE & PARSONS FOURTH IN ST. MORITZ

Laura Deas led the way for British Skeleton's World Cup sliders today, winning a brilliant bronze medal at the world-renowned track in St. Moritz. ... 

Deas, 25, of Wrexham, won her maiden World Cup medal in Calgary before Christmas and was in excellent form today, again producing fast starts (5.18 in both runs) followed by controlled sliding as she completed her two runs in 2:20.58 (1:10.45 & 1:1013) to take bronze behind Elisabeth Vathje of Canada and Austria's Janine Flock.

After the race, a delighted Deas, said: “I've had a really good training week and I've just been enjoying the track.

“It's been an amazing place to slide and it's been a long time since I was last here so I was just trying to get back into it and feel what was going on. I managed to do that and it's been a great week”.

Lizzy Yarnold finished outside of the medals for the first time this season having won two golds and a silver in previous races. The Kentish slider had a fantastic second run though, cutting 0.71 seconds off the down time in her first run, which ensured her a sixth-place finish.

Rose McGrandle finished a whisker outside of the top-10, in 11th, having been tied with Germany's Sophie Griebel after the first run. Griebel found just enough speed in her second to make the top-10 ahead of McGrandle by 0.08 seconds.

Today's results put Deas in sixth place in the World Cup season rankings, Yarnold one place above in fifth, and McGrandle in eighth.

Dominic Parsons, from Dulwich, London, produced another encouraging performance in St. Moritz today as he was just nudged out of the medal positions for the second consecutive week, finishing in fourth place.

The 27-year old made two excellent starts, posting 4.83 in both his runs, and was well-placed in third at the halfway point. Parsons finished in overall time of 2:17.46 as just missed out on a bronze medal to Russia's Nikita Tregybov, by 0.10 seconds.

Ed Smith, of Bristol, had a difficult first run as he finished in 1:10.10 and was unable to qualify for the second run by finishing outside of the top-20 sliders, in 23rd place.

Parsons now moves into fifth place in the World Cup season rankings, Smith into 18th.

The World Cup tour moves to La Plagne, France, for next week's race which is the European Championships.

GB's Europa Cup sliders, Jeremy Rice, Jack Thomas & James Howard were also in action in a double-header in Igls, Austria, with all three sliders finishing in the top-10 in the second race today.

High Wycombe's Jerry Rice, was in good form in both races as he followed up a sixth-place finish yesterday with a fine silver medal today. The 24-year old showed great consistency in his start and run times on both days of racing in Austria.

Following the race, Rice said: “That was a good end to the season, and I finally found some consistency. It was a good final performance from all the guys - I'm looking forward to coming back next season”.

Jack Thomas also performed well with consecutive top-10 finishes (eighth & 10th) and James Howard improved on his start times from yesterday to finish in eighth place today, after his 13th-place finish first time round.

The races in Igls completed the Europa Cup 2014/15 season, and in the final standings Rice finished in second place with 364 points and Thomas in third with 331.

Europa Cup coach, Patrick Shannon reflected on today's race and the the season, saying: “I'm delighted with today's race - three in the top-10 is a great result and sums up what I think has been a fantastic season.

“It's been a season where the team dynamics and work ethic of the athletes led to consistently great performances. This year I think the athletes showed real promise for what I'm sure will be a successful career ahead”.

RESULTS - WORLD CUP, RACE 5, ST. MORITZ, SWITZERLAND & EUROPA CUP, RACE 7 & 8,

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WORLD CUP RACE 5

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