ICC 2, Winterberg Nov 2009

16th – an absolutely awful result! And there is no definitive reason – I didn’t crash, or push out the spur; my sled is ok I think (still need to check?!) and my push was ok! Sometimes it’s just not there. In Skeleton I think it means I’m not letting it run! There was a great sports psychology TV programme called ‘Loosing It’ – a case in study was the javelin thrower Steve Backley who should have qualified in the World Champs, (I think it was?) by matter of course, but in his words he “just couldn’t hear the music”. A few weeks later he set a World Record! He was the same athlete and couldn’t change physically in that time – it was all in the head and letting his mind communicate the right rhythm to the rest of his body! So I’m going to Konigsee hoping something will ‘click’ and I can relax and let it slide!

ICC Race 1, Winterberg Nov 2009

9th place – which is not fantastic, I’ve had the same result here on World Cup in previous seasons! The athletes on ICC are World Class, but I could have done better – although I’m not sure how?! My starts were, dare I say, blistering! I was happy with them anyway!! I lost it down the track – it requires very subtle steering here and my feeling is that I just did a bit too much!! As always in Winterberg it rained, but for the mens race it didn’t effect the times too much…there is another race tomorrow and I’ll be going for a medal! I’m fairly philosophical regarding my chances of qualifying for Vancouver – I’ve just got to take one race at a time and do my best in each of them – the result will take care of itself!!

Whistler International Training, November 2009

This was really important sliding and learning experience in which I leave feeling that I know my lines and have a game plan for when I'm (hopefully) back here in February 2010 for the 'big race'! Just to prove this is the fastest track in the World, I joined the 140kph club with a run where I clocked 141.52 kph (about 87mph) Not that many Skeleton pilots have broken this barrier and I'm one of the only Brits to do so, a good bit of history for me! The next worthy barrier is 145kph (or 90mph) this speed is taken into an almost 90 degree right hand bend mind!
Wildlife here is great - black bears mooch about all around Whistler! I was warming up at the top of the track and Italy's Marizio Oioli pointed by some containers "There's a bear!" And there was, about 20 feet away! Brilliant, he wandered up along the tree line for a while, but I didn't have my camera on me!
Back to Europe now for training and my first international race of the season in Winterberg!

British Selection Race 2, Lake Placid 2009

2nd place today means, joint first in Selection Points, BUT on count back I'm 0.58 sec behind Andy Wood, so after our international training in Whistler as part of the Olympic preparation next week, he goes to World Cup (WC) and I to Intercontinental Cup (ICC). Sorry kids, this means you won't see me on British Eurosport till after Xmas depending on race results!
I'm pretty gutted, and it definitely feels like a blow to my Olympic hopes, but there is often a silver lining to these occurrences. If I let the negative connotations of this result take hold it can only have negative results - on the other hand I'm on a competitive circuit that will give me a World Ranking that I can still qualify for the Olympics with! Don't forget Adam Pengilly struggled last year and was on ICC until qualifying for the World Champs where he won a silver medal!
I'm going to go forward and compete without fear of failure and keep in mind the big scheme of things, like this sunset I saw at Anchor Point in Morocco this summer - waves are still breaking dude! Vancouver is still there for the taking!

British Selection Race 1, Lake Placid 2009

First place by 0.01 second! This race was real pressure and pure performance! Every bit of experience from the last 12 years of decathlon competition, training with the Marine's (as per the photos) and gems of advice from the people I've met along the way contributed to this result, as it will the rest of my season.
You learn from your past experiences, you hope for your future, but all you can affect is that one little second where you get the chance to perform! The next few months are full of those opportunities for me, and I'm so pleased to be in this position. The end result of my endeavors will form in time, meanwhile I will do all in my control to get to Vancouver 2010, starting with next weeks second Selection race on the same track!

Cesana Drama!

On the day the whole British team were scheduled to fly to Cesana, Italy for our first Selection race, the track had to cancel sliding for all nations as their refridgeration broke down meaning there was no ice on parts of the track! Reportedly one local hotel lost €200,000 as teams relocated themselves to other tracks! Skeleton, Bobsleigh and Luge really does contribute to the local business' every winter season! So we have done a weeks training and testing of our equipment in Winterberg, Germany and have set out early for Lake Placid, where it is snowing already! We'll have two Selection races here to decide who goes to World Cup and Intercontinental Cup for the first half of the season up until X-Mas.
BEHOLD my shiny new helmet! I spent some time in the summer learning how to airbrush this British flag design on the front, and a white Patriarchal cross on the top and back, which is the Boggis race colours (a thankyou to my girlfriends parents for their support over the past couple of summers!)
I'll keep you updated on the race results, which will also be posted on my website antsawyer.com

2009 - 2010 NEW SEASON!

A new season - The Olympic season! - is just around the corner! And I am READY!....almost! In a months time we head out to Cesana for our first selection race, then Lake Placid for our second selection race - and that's just to get on the British team! A valuable training week at Whistler, Vancouver follows! For all you history buffs I have updated my website with some interesting facts on the 'About' page :)
I've just got round to offsetting all my flights from last year - as previously blogged, I know this isn't the solution, but it helps address the adverse effects the amount of travel life as a professional Skeleton pilot requires. Post The Games I plan to really look into the sustainability of this lifestyle! Until then I am committed do doing everything in my power to be on the start line of the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic Games! It's ON!