Winterberg World Cup 8 2008

10TH place! Another top 10, but but but….it could have been better! As always, ifs and buts don’t matter when the result has come out, it is as it is and that’s all that counts! I could have pushed better on the first run, I know that and go away from this race angry to get focused and perform at the World Championships in a couple of weeks! I know now that when I get it right I can be on the podium, and the races I don’t quite get right still have me in the top 10, so I’m optimistic for the future!
Overall I have finished 6th, which is a great World Ranking this season (the World Championships are a separate competition to the World Cup and don’t affect your World Ranking even though they are yet to come). Kristan Bromley won the World Cup for Great Britain this season after a great 2nd run under pressure today, so well done to him! I hope to be wearing the World Cup Leader jersey myself at some point in the near future!! The British mens team is also number 1 in the World this year!

Konigsee World Cup 7 2008

9th Place, so another top 10 and I maintain my overall World Ranking of 5th! I felt pretty dissapointed immediately after the race as I has been 4th after the first run but dropped back to 9th after a few skids in critical sections of the track that bled speed! More consistent podium finishes will come with more experience, I'm sure of that! Kristan Bromley is proving this theory with another 2nd place to stay number one in the world with one race left!
Amy Williams did well with a 5th position, and I was asked to commentate on the girls race as it was the day before the mens. The picture is of me in the commentators studio, overlooking the finish area with the big screen and enthuiastic crowd which is always at World Cup events in Konigsee! Annie O'Shea had an amazing crash out of Kriesel, which gave great fuel for commentating and some great footage that I'm sure we'll be seeing for years to come!!

St.Moritz World Cup 6 2008

9th place! I hit a few walls and had an awful first start, but for that fact a top 10 result is pretty good! As an athlete you always want more, but I'm taking the philosophy that everything is experience for the only race that really counts - Vancouver 2010!!
St.Moritz is the birth place of ice track sports, Skeleton of course originating from the Cresta run. I met Nino Bibbia, the first Olympic Skeleton gold medallist from the Games held here in 1948! A legend in these parts! The picture is with him!

Cesana World Cup 5 & European Championships 2008

6th place in the World Cup race and 4th in the European Championships! Although I hit a few walls on the way down today and know a better result was possible, as an athlete in a performance sport I cannot dwell on if's, but's and maybe's! The result is not a bad one at all, and leaves me 5th in the overall World Rankings!
The picture is of our team, including athletes, coaches, our performance director and physio. Kristan Bromley came 2nd overall and won the European Championships, it was great to hear the national anthem! Well done Kristan!

Cesana World Cup 4 2008

2nd place! What a great result! And only 0.05 of a second behind Canadian Jon Montgomery in 1st! Lots of confidence to take into tomorrows 5th World Cup race on the same track (a race was cancelled in Sigulda, Latvia so there are now two in Italy to make up) World Cup 5 also doubles up as the European Championships! All is possible!
The race missed Olympic Skeleton athlete Patrick Singleton of Bermuda who is helping organise the efforts of the Sea Shepherd protesting Japans whaling programme in the Antartic at the moment! Recently in the news for having two of it’s members kidnapped when they boarded a whaling ship! A noble and worthy cause, see their website in my links, good luck Pat!

Lake Placid World Cup 3 2007

8th place! Not a bad result at all!! So overall I maintained my World Ranking of 7th. I think after some success, like 3rd in Park City last week, as an athlete you only want to move forward and do better! That's only healthy, but to stay positive you must keep your goals at the forefront of your mind. As long as you achieve those your are on the right path to where you want to go and at the moment I am on the right path! If a little ahead of schedule! The British Team will take some well deserved rest over Christmas before we start the European leg of the World Cup tour. Not too many mince pies though - testing takes place two days after Christmas day (I don't want to look like this guy!!) Photo from 'The Flying Sumo' restaurant in Park City!

Park City World Cup 2 2007

3rd Place! My first medal! It feels great! I was 3rd after the first run, but smashed my arm after being too high out of one of the bottom corners! It has really stiffened up some what now, but I put it to the back of my mind (in fact it left my mind all together) for the second run, and I maintained my 3rd place! Once again Great Britain as a whole did well, with Amy Williams also picking up a bronze for the girls! Off to Lake Placid for the final race before Christmas, let's hope we stay on the same way (we're planning on it!)
The weeks training hadn't started in the best of ways after a bout of food poisoning over the weekend due to dodgy hotel food! Local and organic are not policies employed by The Hampton, although as part of the Hilton group of hotels they do support a variety of good causes (mainly via encouragement of their clients good will!) but maybe they should address some issues closer to home, like recycling and supporting their local economy by buying in some healthy locally produced food rather than synthetic, processed rubbish! I'll make some suggestions!