The eight athletes - four women and four men - were chosen from more than 1,000 applicants after going through multiple stages of testing, including physical, psychological and adaptation assessments, as part of the Power2Podium search that began in March last year.

"I believe this group has what it takes and can be a very strong talent squad," Andi Schmid, overall performance adviser for British Skeleton, said.

"The selection process is the first stage and in British Skeleton we have the track record of success in converting talent into medal winners.

"We have a very good idea of the characteristics of a potential medal winner but to guide them through the process is something quite different.

"We need to give them the time and opportunity to learn how to operate in an individual sport but in a team environment at our centralised training base at Bath where they will also benefit from good coaching and sport science support.

"They will need to learn how to deal with the pressures of hard training at a stage where they don't have very much money at all.

"They will also need to learn how to deal with the pressure of competition and the stresses and strains of the quite extensive travelling that we have in our sport.

"In short we must create the right pathway.

"We won't get it 100 per cent right for all of them but we have a good idea that some of these eight will make it as medallists."

Among the new squad hoping to follow in the footsteps of Olympic Champions Lizzy Yarnold and Amy Williams are a sailor, a badminton player, an American Football player, an exercise physiologist, two footballers and track and field athletes.

Twenty-year-old Brogan Crowley was one of those picked.

She is a competitive heptathlete and has achieved regular podium finishes over the last two years, including winning the 100 metres hurdles for English Schools in 2012.

"The whole process was something quite new, it was wasn't like anything I'd experienced before but I loved the progression of the whole thing and I met some great people," she said following her selection for the talent squad.

"I didn't know a huge amount about the sport before the Olympics in Sochi but seeing Lizzy win made me really want to go for it and see how far I could get."

The eight athletes - four women and four men - were chosen from more than 1,000 applicants after going through multiple stages of testing ©British Skeleton


Marcus Wyatt, 23, joins the squad after three years as an American footballer playing for Swansea University's team, the Titans, who won the National Challenge Trophy last year.

"It was brilliant," he said of the stages each athlete had to go through to get selected.

"It was really tough but I learned a lot about myself at each phase we went through and I saw myself progress from the first stage through to the fourth.

"It was just a great experience to be a part of whether I got selected or not, but now that I have been I'm really excited about what lies ahead."

Sport Scotland exercise physiologist and long jumper Kim Murray, 100m hurdler Madelaine Smith, sailor Eleanor Furneaux, former badminton player Tim Hull, and footballers Craig Thompson and Chris Gray complete the squad.

They will all now be coached by Mark Wood, who was recognised in the New Year's Honours List for services to skeleton by being made a Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (MBE), and will receive access to support, including sports science and medicine, and cutting edge technology and equipment.

"These talented athletes have successfully undertaken a gruelling multi-phased assessment process exploring all aspects of their physical and psychological potential to adapt to the demands they will face in this sport," Stewart Laing, head of the Performance Pathway Team, a collaboration between UK Sport and the English Institute of Sport, added.

"It's a truly exciting opportunity for these athletes and for British Skeleton as they work towards the ultimate goal of winning an Olympic medal."

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