British Skeleton's Laura Deas, left, and Lizzie Yarnold celebrate respective bronze and gold at the Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympics - now the search is on for talents to fill their places at Milan Cortina 2026 ©British Skeleton

British Skeleton is on the look-out for the next Lizzy Yarnold or Amy Williams after launching a nationwide talent identification campaign seeking women who can win gold at the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics.

British women have won a medal at every Winter Olympics since skeleton re-joined the Olympic programme in 2002, including gold at the last three Games through Williams in 2010 and Yarnold in 2014 and 2018.

Laura Deas, who took bronze behind Yarnold at Pyeongchang 2018, is in line to spearhead the British challenge at next year’s Winter Olympics in Beijing but the national governing body is now looking ahead to Milan Cortina and is seeking women aged 17 to 25 with potential in the sport.

"We’ve enjoyed great success in the last five Olympic campaigns, particularly in the women’s programme, and we are driven to continue all the way to Milan Cortina," said Danny Holdcroft, head of talent for the British Skeleton team.

"To do that, we are looking for young women with potential to achieve great things, even if they don’t realise that yet.

"We are not seeking ready-made stars so we would encourage anyone who has athletic ability, is fast and powerful and has a desire to push their boundaries and experience new things to come forward and believe in themselves.

Alex Coomber earned skeleton bronze for Britain at Salt Lake City in 2002, when the discipline returned to the Winter Olympic programme, and now British Skeleton is searching for individuals who could maintain the proud tradition of female medallists in the sport at Milan Cortina 2026 ©Getty Images
Alex Coomber earned skeleton bronze for Britain at Salt Lake City in 2002, when the discipline returned to the Winter Olympic programme, and now British Skeleton is searching for individuals who could maintain the proud tradition of female medallists in the sport at Milan Cortina 2026 ©Getty Images

"That’s exactly what Lizzy and Laura did 12 years ago."

Project Milano: Girls4Gold has opened applications via the British Bobsleigh and Skeleton Association website - with a deadline of midnight on April 30.

Successful applicants will be invited to the University of Bath for baseline testing later in the spring.

The selection process will continue through the summer, with the chosen athletes getting their first taste of the sport on ice in early winter with a view to reaching the Olympics in 2026.

"What sets this project apart from previous talent ID campaigns is how quickly we’re looking to turn complete novices into world-class sliders," added Holdcroft, whose team will have support from the English Institute of Sport and UK Sport pathways departments throughout the process.

"Whereas we’d usually expect someone to transition to gold over two Olympic cycles, this time we have raised the bar and want to turn that potential into a podium place in four and a half years.

"Everything is possible and we know we can win World Cup medals inside four years so an Olympic gold is the next logical step.

"There will be a lot of young women out there who have maybe enjoyed a certain sport ever since they can remember but now could be the time for a new challenge.

"There will be others - like Lizzy - who always wanted to win Olympic gold and just needed a new sport they’d maybe never thought of to be able to help make that dream come true.

"Whichever category they fall into, we want to hear from people who are passionate about reaching their potential and are willing to put in the work required to make it to the top."