A former Maidstone schoolgirl is closing in on a place in the Great Britain squad for next month’s Winter Olympics in Russia.

Lizzy Yarnold has won three of the five races in the skeleton World Cup, with her latest success coming at Winterberg in Germany on Saturday.

The 24-year-old, who grew up in West Kingsdown and attended Maidstone Grammar School for Girls, looks set to be in the British skeleton squad for Sochi when it is announced later this month.

Yarnold, who now lives in Sevenoaks, is 225 points clear of American Noelle Pikus-Pace in the World Cup standings with three races to go.

Previous victories came at Calgary and Lake Placid at the end of last year, while the next meeting takes place at St Moritz in Switzerland this weekend.

Yarnold was the junior world champion in 2012.