Patrick Singleton doesn't know whether he will continue in the sport of luge. But he knows one thing - he will be staying for the closing ceremonies at these Salt Lake City Winter Olympic Games.

Singleton said yesterday: "At first I was going to leave early because I was disappointed with my performance here. But later I got some Olympic spirit in me and decided to stay for the Closing Ceremony. It is a special time and I don't know whether I will be back."

One of the things that persuaded Singleton to stay on was the news that a good friend of his on the luge circuit received this week.

Singleton said that Renato Mizoguchi, who slides for Brazil and came 46th in these Games, had received a call which made him "the happiest man here in Salt Lake City".

"And that made me happy too. It put everything into perspective for me about the Olympics."

The Bermudian said that Renato, who is half Japanese and half Brazilian, was reunited with his mother who he had not been in touch with for 20 years since he was three-years-old.

"Renato has had a horrible life - just horrible and he was separated from his mother at three-years-old.

"He lives in Japan and he knew his mother lived in Brazil but never knew where. The Brazilian press at the Olympics got a hold of this story and found his mother and after the competition on Monday they got her on the cell phone for him.

"He is the happiest man here in Salt Lake City - even happier than Armin Zoeggeler from Italy who won the (luge) gold medal.

"So it makes my crash (on Sunday night) not seem very important. Seeing him so happy has given me some Olympic spirit."

Singleton is also set to go back to the Olympic Park this week where the luge competition is held. This time, however, he will be taking his video camera to help some of the other lugers prepare - the women's singles and men's doubles are still to be run.

One of those he will help is Dinah Browne from the US Virgin Islands.

He said: "You can never get enough help with the luge. I will film her run and other lugers' runs so that she can see what kind of line she is taking and how to improve on it on certain corners."

He will do the same with the doubles teams from Romania and Slovakia who are friends of his on the luge circuit.

After the closing ceremonies Singleton will return to Bermuda for a short time and then go back to Japan where he works for Bloomberg.

He said: "I will store my sled and gear in Bermuda but will store my steels in Europe because I am afraid the weather will damage them in Bermuda with all the humidity. They are prone to rust."

Luger Anne Abernathy of the US Virgin Islands made Olympic history yesterday when she became the oldest woman to compete at the Winter Games at the age of 48.