World Cup 4 Konigsee 2009

12th place finish! Not too bad a result! Unfortunately I dropped from 8th on the first run to 12th after the second. Not really due to any big mistakes, just steering a little to much in Kriesel and loosing speed for the bottom of the track! I had a great straight both runs though, so that is showing that I am one with my sled again! Let's see what I can do in St.Moritz next week!
I'm pleased to welcome a new sponsor to my support team - Witney Lakes Resort. I'll be playing some all important rounds of golf there in the summer to aid my psychological preparation for the Games! You can find their website via my Links to the right of the page.

British Re-Selection Race Igls 4th Jan 2009

2nd place. Qualification for the World Cup team is a close fought thing on the British mens team! After Andy Wood had done so well on Intercontinental Cup before Christmas, there had to be a race off between Andy, Adam and I for who went on World Cup for the second half of the season. Unfortunately Adam was injured and didn't complete the race, and Andy performed very well and won. So I'll take my result of 2nd and continue on World Cup with Andy Wood. This race was also important because it decided who got the most practice on the Vancouver Olympic track for 2010! As it is I will share runs on the first week with Adam, then I also get the World Cup race there the week after - so I think that should give me a good knowledge of the track going into the all important Olympic year next season!

World Cup Cesana - Cancelled Due To Snow

Amy's balcony full of snow - still 24 hrs of snow fall after this pic was taken!

Picture of the track buried in snow!!

World Cup 3 Igls 2008

8th place! This is as well as I could have done today! I had two good runs with minimum mistakes, maybe I could have pushed a bit better on the first run, or controlled corner 9 better in the second, but if I think like that I’m getting into the world of if’s and but’s! I can accept the result and look forward to next weeks race in Cesana – a track I have done well on previously and on which I have aspirations for a top 6 finish!
Shelley Rudman deserves a mention for winning the girls race yesterday – the first British gold medal of the season, and the national anthem booming over the Tyrolean Alps! Bravo!
Also worth a mention is the huge amount of snow the region has had! It’s been fantastic for the scenery, and my gumption (great word!) This week, however, has also seen massive flooding in Italy and snow in New Orleans and Houston! The Worlds climate continues to change!

World Cup 2 Altenberg 2008

13th! Hold on, hold on! It's actually not a bad result, and here's why: I was 17th on this track at last seasons World Champs (some tracks suit some better than others!) and I've had a performance hangover from my bad result last week but I finished just one place behind Kristan who was World Champ on this track last year....
There are peaks and troughs to performance, sometimes you have it (when you are in tune with your equipment, you're physically in peak condition and you're wired into the track!) and sometimes you don't! I feel I'm beginning to climb up again and am optimistic for the next two races!
Updated links on the right include the results page of the FIBT site, which has live results if you can't manage to get to a TV! And also to my website which is being updated...the stickman is from my site!

World Cup 1 Winterberg 2008

17th! My worst result for a couple of seasons! But I have rationalised a reason, in that preparation is key, and so many things have to come together for a podium finish! You need to have a performance routine which gives consistency and a momentum to your competitions. I think I know what I need to do!
A positive was a great start of 5.02, which shows my approach to my physical training has been working well! I remain optimistic of some better results in the races to come!
The picture is of my sled and helmet with my main sponsors branded on! Very smart! I've just updated my website (click on the link on the right to have a look!) And also some other great news is that Skeleton is back on Eurosport! It's shown live, so hopefully you can watch my next races on TV!?

British Selection Race 2 Cesana 2008

4th place! And 2nd overall, so I've qualified for the World Cup team! I'll take the result, but I was pretty lucky; and unlucky in the same breath! On the morning of the first two runs we were competing at 7.45 and it was snowing! Maybe it was the early morning or the extra cold, but I pulled my back warming up! I was quite pleased with my reaction - I was in tears! It showed how much qualifying for the Olympics means to me, as a bad result here would mean missing out on vital training at the new Vancouver track this season and chances of success at The Games would have also diminished!
Once again it was extremely close! And I was lucky that Andy Wood had a tough time of things which enabled me to pip him to the 4th spot. Chris Type performed extremely well, beating Adam Pengilly to 2nd place, with Kristan winning overall. The picture shows Skeleton can sometimes give you some bumps! Sean Dunstan with a nasty ice burn, luckily he's one of the Navy Skeleton team so was tough enough to slide again that same day!
Amy Williams and Shelley Rudman are on the girls World Cup team, so I'm looking forward to heading out to Lake Placid with them next week for training on the 2009 World Championship track! In the mean time some quality injury management is need back home in Britain to look after my back and be fighting fit for the season!