Laura Deas won a bronze medal at her debut Olympics, the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Games ©Getty Images

Six British skeleton sliders have been selected for the opening races of the 2018-2019 World Cup season, including Olympic bronze medalist Laura Deas.

Deas won bronze in the women's event at the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Games, her debut Olympics. 

She is joined in the British women's team by Kim Murray and Maddy Smith, while the men's team consists of Jerry Rice, Jack Thomas and Marcus Wyatt.

The team is without double Olympic gold medalist Lizzy Yarnold who has now retired while men's bronze medalist Dom Parsons is taking a season off to finish his PhD. 

"The strength in depth in the squad this season is something we're very proud of," said British Skeleton's interim performance director Natalie Dunman.

"We know that people outside the squad will point to Lizzy's retirement but, while Lizzy is obviously a big loss, we're genuinely excited about the talent we still have with us.

"Laura produced a superb performance to win bronze in Pyeongchang and she's long established herself as a world-class slider.

"She is determined to kick on from her Olympic success and there's no reason why she can't be in the mix for medals throughout the season.

"Maddy showed that she has what it takes to compete at the top when she made the step up to World Cup level last season and Kim has impressed on the other circuits and fully deserves her chance to shine this season.

"It's a similar story in the men's team, where Jerry put down a personal best in Pyeongchang and Marcus came incredibly close to securing an Olympic spot after just four World Cup races.

"Jack already has 13 World Cup races and a World Championships under his belt and we're expecting all three men to push each other hard this season."

The Skeleton World Cup starts on December 8 in the Latvian town of Sigulda, before a second event takes place in Winterburg, Germany, on December 14. 

The remainder of races will take place in 2019, with the World Championships taking place in March in Canada.