The agreement follows on from the nation's success in recent times, with Lizzy Yarnold having claimed the women's skeleton gold at the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympic Games and overall 2013-2014 World Cup victory, and Shelley Rudman securing gold at last year's International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation (FIBT) World Championships in St Moritz.

Following on from last season, when the BBC provided coverage from the Skeleton World Cup for the first time in its history, this year will see the European leg of the World Cup tour being broadcast, with live action available on the BBC Sport website and highlights on the red button following Ski Sunday.

Live coverage will also be aired via the red button from the FIBT World Championships in Winterberg, Germany, as well as an extended highlights programme.

Written and video coverage of both the World Cup and World Championships will appear on the BBC Sport website.

"We are delighted the BBC has decided to back the new BBSA and agreed to continue its broadcast partnership with both British bobsleigh and skeleton," BBSA commercial director David Henwood said.

"We are also so pleased our key commercial partners have decided to continue their loyal support to Pyeongchang 2018. This strong backing off the ice means so much to our athletes, and means they can focus 100% on their performances".

Shelley Rudman is the first British woman to take the skeleton world title ©Getty Images


Meanwhile, the national governing body also announced that it has secured an extension on a number of its sponsorship deals on the eve of the World Cup season.

British Skeleton Official Team Partner, Lloyd & Partners, has doubled its sponsorship and extended its agreement by a further four years until the Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympics, while Talent Squad Official Partner, Ignite, will continue to support the nation's next generation of sliders as it works with the new athletes selected for the team in January from the UK Sport's Power2Podium talent identification programme.

Official Nutrition Supplier, BioCare, will also continue to work with British Skeleton and RockTape, the squad's Official Kinesiology Tape Supplier, will support British Skeleton all the way to Pyeongchang 2018 after signing a four-year deal in January.

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