Thrill-seeking Brits who revel in a spot of snow-fuelled sledging are being urged to slide one step further ahead of next month’s Winter Olympic Games.

And catalysed by the help of an ‘game-changing’ injection of funding, luge in this country could be on the cusp of a bold new era as Britain bids to become an ever-greater global force in the sport.

That’s the rousing rallying cry from GB Luge CEO Gavin Arnold, who hopes Team GB ace Rupert Staudinger can spring a surprise at Beijing 2022 and catapult his passion further onto the British sporting map.

Staudinger, 24, has been officially selected as Britain’s sole luger for the Games after impressing at an Olympic test event in November and the Sochi World Cup last month.

Those experiences were enabled by a £6,000 investment by UK Sport, whose Beijing Support Fund is propelling non-National Lottery-funded sports’ preparation for next month to new heights.

Arnold is acutely aware of luge’s potential and hopes UK Sport’s funding can inspire more British adrenaline junkies to take the ‘easy’ step into competitive sliding.

He said: “The Olympics is absolutely critical for our sport.

“Every four years, the eyes of the world are on us. We love our sport and it’s fantastic to be involved in – it’s fast, dynamic and a lot of fun.

“We want to spread it wider and there’s a lot of potential out there to grow the sport. Every winter, we turn into a mass participation sport where everyone is out there with their sledges.

“That’s just replicating the type of stuff that Rupert will be doing out in Beijing. We want to harness that and we want to get people into luge – you’d be surprised, but it’s actually a relatively easy step from sledging to competitive sledding.

“We want to get people excited about it and for people to share the joy we get from it.”

UK Sport’s Beijing Support Fund has supported seven winter sports whose athletes or teams are on track to qualify for the Games and Arnold, whose GB Luge team are based at the University of Bath, added: “The UK Sport cash is critical. Without that, we wouldn’t be able to keep the wheels turning and develop Olympic athletes.

“It’s really quite a significant milestone for us to get over the line to Beijing. It’s a significant sum to up and represents around a third of our usual annual budget, so it’s a very timely boost.

“If we really want to keep going and make progress, UK Sport are critical partners for us – it’s a real game-changer.”

UK Sport’s overall investment totals £218,000 and forms part of their commitment to becoming an ever-greater force in winter sport, which is critical to their mission of creating the greatest decade of extraordinary sporting moments.

Staudinger, who finished 33rd at PyeongChang 2018, is gunning for a top 20 place in Beijing and will compete at the European Championships in St Moritz this weekend.

UK Sport’s funding has helped pay for his flight to Switzerland and the competition represents a key opportunity for the German-born ace to enhance his seeding for the Games.

Arnold says a promising performance in Beijing can lay the foundations for two more vital Olympic cycles and Team GB’s leader for luge added: “UK Sport’s support now gives us that ability to fully support Rupert’s efforts, unlock his talent and maximise performance.

“We want to be up there challenging for medals – and the support from UK Sport can really help us transform ourselves and get among the big-hitters in our sport.

“There is no reason we can’t be punching up towards the medals in eight years – that’s really where we should be aiming for.

“That’s really exciting – that’s the path we want to ourselves on and where we want to go.”

UK Sport has an ambition for Great Britain to become an ever-greater force in winter sport. The Beijing Support Fund demonstrates UK Sport’s commitment to a wider group of sports, athletes and teams in the high-performance community as part of its mission to create the greatest decade of extraordinary sporting moments; reaching, inspiring and uniting the nation. For more information visit www.uksport.gov.uk