Ellia Smeding is the first female Olympic speed skater in 40 years to represent Britain ©Getty Images

Speedskater Ellia Smeding has been named as 50th and final member of the British Olympic team for Beijing 2022.

She will compete in the 1000 metres and 1500m after setting new national records at her Olympic distances during the World Cup qualification process over seven days in December.

"This season has gone really well so far and I am looking forward to putting down my best performances at the Games," Smeding said.

Smeding is the first British female long track speedskater at an Olympics in 42 years. 

Cornelius Kersten takes his place in the men's speed skating and is the first man to represent Britain in the discipline since 1994.

"To have two speedskaters at the Olympic Winter Games will hopefully inspire a future generation of skaters," Smeding said. 

Britain's mixed curlers Jennifer Dodds and Bruce Mouat will be action even before the Opening Ceremony in Beijing ©Getty Images
Britain's mixed curlers Jennifer Dodds and Bruce Mouat will be action even before the Opening Ceremony in Beijing ©Getty Images

The British team of 50 includes athletes in 11 disciplines. 

There are 21 returning Olympians, including women's skeleton bronze medallist Laura Deas, women's slopestyle bronze medallist Izzy Atkin from Pyeongchang 2018 and Eve Muirhead who led the women's curling team to a bronze at Sochi 2014.

Dave Ryding returns for his fourth Olympics, after becoming the first British skier to win an International Ski Federation Alpine World Cup ski race with his victory at Kitzbuhel last weekend.

"This is an exciting new chapter for British winter sport with a number of new names for the British public to enjoy and get behind," Team GB's Chef de Mission Georgina Harland said.

"With athletes who have experienced four Olympic Winter Games, they will undoubtedly be a great support to the emerging talent.

"We feel these athletes have the opportunity to not only challenge established winter nations but compete with the success we enjoyed at both Sochi and Pyeongchang."

Lizzy Yarnold won Britain's only Olympic gold medals at both Sochi 2014 and Pyeongchang 2018 but will not be at Beijing 2022 after retiring ©Getty Images
Lizzy Yarnold won Britain's only Olympic gold medals at both Sochi 2014 and Pyeongchang 2018 but will not be at Beijing 2022 after retiring ©Getty Images

The first members of the team in action are due to be the mixed curlers Jennifer Dodds and Bruce Mouat who take to the ice for the first time two days before the Opening Ceremony, scheduled for February 4.

Britain's team is smaller than Pyeongchang 2018, when they sent 58 athletes, and Sochi 2014, when they had 56 representatives.

At Pyeongchang 2018, Britain won a total of five medals, including a gold for Lizzy Yarnold, who retained the skeleton title she had claimed four years earlier.

Yarnold announced her retirement from the sport a few months later due to knee and back injuries.