Bermuda's luge phenomenon Patrick Singleton has bounced back from a terrifying, high-speed crash to put himself back on track for the 2002 Winter Olympics.

Just over a month after being injured and badly shaken by the accident, the 24-year-old grabbed third place in the Nations World Cup event in La Plagne, Albertville, France.

Singleton, who became only the second Bermudian to compete in a Winter Games when he represented the Island in Nagano, Japan, in February this year, suffered a bad start to the season when he crashed during official training for an event in Austria in early November.

It happened as he came out of curve nine -- the Innsbruck track's notorious "Achilles heel'' -- where he glanced against the wall and in the process upset his approach into the next bend.

Singleton recalled: "It forced me into curve 10 late. I pushed high, lost pressure and fell 25 feet at 110 miles per hour. I pulled all the muscles in my legs and back.'' Time needed to recover from the crash forced him to miss the first two events on the World Cup circuit but he believed his injury had been more psychological than physical, as it had brought to mind a similar accident which had left Czech luge racer Radim Lanka paralysed.

After earning a ninth place at the Nations World Cup event in Konigssee, Germany, Singleton travelled to La Plagne, one of his favourite tracks.

In 1997 he had finished in third place there and he repeated that achievement.

And this time he enjoyed the added satisfaction of being able to fly the flag for Bermuda on the podium.

"Last year, they didn't have a Bermudian flag and they were very embarrassed,'' said Singleton. "They went out and ordered one and showed it to me when I got there this year.'' Singleton is based in Japan, where he has been working as a sports journalist for an English-language newspaper since early May. The job came about after he became a favourite with the Japanese media at the Nagano Games.

His employers allow him the time off he needs to train and compete in Europe, but the expense of taking part on the World Cup circuit, which runs from November to February, has forced him to take extreme measures to cut costs.

He is part of the Federation of International Luge team, a small outfit which has one van and one coach. When other team members wanted to train in Latvia, he had to hitch a ride from Germany to France to compete at La Plagne.

For the return journey, he took up the offer of a lift with the Canadian team.

But after the glory of receiving his third-place trophy, he was brought abruptly down to earth with the discovery that there were not enough seats in the car -- leaving him to spend the 16-hour journey in the trunk.

But another third place for Singleton in the Commonwealth Cup, in Winterberg, Germany, made it all worthwhile. At the same venue, he came 40th in the World Cup event.

Singleton is grateful for the financial backing from the Bermuda Olympic Association which has helped him with the costs of competition. Even so, the number of events he can enter is limited by his resources and the next World Cup race he will enter will be the last of the season in Nagano in February.

And already he is setting his sights on the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics, with a view to steady improvement over the next few years.

"I'm aiming to finish in the top 15 in Salt Lake and I hope to get better. A lot of the top luge athletes are around 34 and I would think I'll peak at around 31,'' said Singleton.

BOUNCING BACK -- Bermuda's Winter Olympian Patrick Singleton is making an impact on the international luge circuit again after recovering from a high-speed crash.