Selection Race 2 - Lake Placid

After my 4th place finish in the first selection race for the Great Britain World Cup Squad, I was looking for improvement in the second race a week later. The 3 days of training leading into the race were far from ideal with deteriorating ice conditions making the track very slow. A combination of rising temperatures, wind and rain meant that the track changed very quickly, with certain sections melting whilst others become very frosty. However I made the best of the training I was given to correct certain sections of the track that I was losing speed in previously and I was confident of being in the mix in the race.

The British Skeleton Squad

Picture Courtesy of LIFE Magazine and Getty Images

So race day came about all too quickly and i was drawn with the first start number for the men, a position I wasnt all too keen on, as it means almost no information of how quick the track was likely to be, as fate would have it the track ended up being almost 3 seconds quicker on the race day, and this threw a few spanners into the mix, as the timings of our steers in the corners had to be that much quicker to account for the extra speed. Despite this I put down a very competitive first run that put me 3rd and again had me within 4 tenths of the leader Andy wood, it also meant that 2 tenths covered 2nd,3rd and 4th positions. The second run didn't go quite as smoothly and meant that I finished 3rd, this result also meant that I finished 3rd overall over the two selection races.

This result means that I shall be spending the first half of the season on the Intercontinental Cup Circuit which will see me racing in Winterberg, Konigssee and Cesana before Christmas. The selection races really opened up my eyes as to how much my driving ability has improved over the last couple of years. My pushstart at the beginning of a slide down the track has always been my strong point (consistantly being around 2 tenths quicker than anyone else on the team) and has meant that I could get away with not having such a clean run down the track. However for some reason the last two races has seen my pushstart being not quite such an effective weapon, with Andy Wood and Anthony Sawyer both having pushed within a few hundredths of a second of me. However I was still able to be competitive with my driving and this is very encouraging. As soon as I am able to combine a lethal start time with my improved driving abilities the results will be impressive. So this is the goal for the next 3 weeks. The first of these weeks is spent at home in Devon, we then have 2 more weeks of training on the ice in Germany before our race series starts. So I am now analysing video and working with my coaches to firstly improve my push back to what it should be and secondly to prepare for what will hopefully be a very successful season!!

Preseason and Selection Race 1 - Lake Placid

So at the beginning of October our preseason training started. We were originally meant to be training in Cesana, Italy, however a broken refrigeration system and some very uncharacteristic warm weather in the Italian Alps meant that we had to relocate to Winterberg in Germany. A week was spent here refamiliarising with our sleds, thankfully it all came flooding back and it provided a much needed adrenaline fix after 6 months or so off the ice! From here we travelled to Montreal and drove down to Lake Placid for our first of two selection races which will decide who will be on the World Cup and Intercontinental Cup circuits for this coming season.

The race format is such that we all have 6 training runs on the track spread over 3 days followed by a race day which comprises of two runs down the track, with the cumulative time deciding the winner. Training made it very evident that the race was going to be a close one, I even managed to acheive the fastest downtime on the last training run prior to the race so all was looking good. The race however didn't all go to plan. I had a pretty clean first run that put me with a few tenths of a second of the leader Ant Sawyer, infact 4 tenths spread the field. However a poor second run that started with me almost tripping over my sled at the start due to a sticky start spur and ended with me clattering the right wall out of 14 meant that i finished 4th overall, with Ant managing to claim top spot by one hundredth of a second. A really big congrats to him, as he's my roommate for this fortnight!! However a few lessons to be taken away and learnt from by me for the second race, where absolutely anything could happen. However now only a win will do for me, so pretty straightforward huh?!

First Blog - Getting upto Speed

Ok so this is my first blog, and the first of many that will track my progress through this season and the coming seasons for the duartion of my career as an elite athlete for Great Britain in the sport of Skeleton Bobsleigh. I took up the sport 3 Years ago after finishing my university course and am currently in the preseason of my 4th season, and a big season it is too with the Olympics looming large just a few months down the line! The past 3 seasons have gone by in a bit of a blur, being sent to tracks all over North America and Europe, with some intense summer training in between. It has seen me mature from a complete novice where I was hitting every wall in sight on the way down the track into a competent athlete, and one that can certainly challenge for an Olympic berth this season. Along the way I have picked up a World Junior Championships Silver Medal and a British Championships Gold. Indeed I am still the current British champion going into this season. Along with these I have made some great friends, have learnt how to take disappointment and turn it into a motivational force, and discovered what its like to taste success and believe me, i intend to make winning a habit for many years to come...