OW that Bermudian Patrick Singleton has qualified for his third Winter Olympics, you would expect for him to relax a bit. But that is far from the mind of the skeleton athlete who will be competing this weekend at the final Europa Cup in the ritzy town of St. Moritz, Switzerland.

Singleton, who competed in the luge at the last two Olympics before switching to the skeleton for the Games in Italy starting next month, said from Switzerland this week where he was with the British team: "We will be racing this weekend in St. Moritz before going back to England. The British want me to come back to Bath to their High Performance Training Centre for five days for conditioning training. We will be practising our form and then I travel with them to their camp just across the Italian border for four days of sliding and physical training."

Singleton has been training hard with the British team and last weekend he qualified for the 2006 Olympics in Torino, Italy when he finished in fourth place at a qualifying event in Konigsee, Germany.

As if sliding head first down an icy track at speeds approaching 80 miles per hour was not dangerous enough, doing so at the extremely technical Olympic Cesana Paroil course will be even tougher for the Bermudian. "I haven't had as much training on the course as many other sliders," he said.

"I have trained on it in November and also last January. The course is very technical unlike many other courses. It has a very short start so that is a little strange because most other courses have longer starts and you can run them out but this course you only have 22 paces and then you are on the sled.

"The top half of the course is slow but with very tricky curves. They are not dangerous but if you practically breath the wrong way it can set you back. Then at the bottom it gets incredibly fast."

Sliders will have to navigate their way through a series of 19 curves (11 to the left and eight to the right). They must deftly travel through the course curves six, seven and eight ? three quick turns in quick succession. The track drops 140 metres over the 1,435 metres.

To give an example of how tough the course is, last February, the World Cup luge races were cancelled. Although officials explained that while the track was safe, many athletes were not capable of handling the course. Then last October the lower section of the track was modified to prevent crashes at high speeds by inexperienced racers. Singleton said: "I didn't have any major problems when I trained on it ? I had a lot of small problems like most people did but a lot of athletes went to the hospital with all sorts of injures. In the luge last year a lot of people had accidents.

"It is a very challenging course and that does give me an advantage as I am more of a driver than a pusher. But I don't have that many training runs on it and that is a disadvantage because many of the guys have had more time on it than I have. And having that extra time on it is a big advantage. It is a tricky course and it will be tough.

"You can lose time at the top and you go from one extreme to another. It is so strange to have a track that is slow at the top and so fast at the bottom. You have to really be able to adjust. But I am looking forward to it."

Asked how he thought he would do next month against the best in the world, Singleton said: "I am not giving any predictions on anything but I can say that I have met all of my targets for the year and I am going to go into the Games to enjoy them and work hard. If you ask me where I will finish it will be between first and last! I know from experience that if you get too wound up it can hurt you."

Working with the British team has been good for both camps, said Singleton.

"The British and myself work well together. (British slider) Adam Pengilly is one of my strength coaches and he is also one of my best friends. We compete against each other but we also help each other."

Former World Cup champion Kristan Bromley will lead Great Britain's three-strong skeleton team in Torino. The 33-year-old produced his best result of the season to come second in the World Cup event in Germany last week and is fourth in the series. Pengilly, who was 10th last weekend, came fifth in the 2004/05 European Championships. Shelley Rudman will represent Team GB in the women's skeleton. The 24-year-old, who won the World University Winter Games skeleton, celebrated her selection by equalling her best World Cup performance to date in St. Moritz recently.

She finished fourth in the event, which also doubled up as the 2006 European Championships, and is now seventh overall with one race remaining ? this weekend in St. Moritz which was where the sport of skeleton started.

All three British sliders are members of the University of Bath team.

For those wanting to send a good luck message to Singleton, you can go on to his website at www.Bermudaice.com