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Singleton relying on wild card

While Tucker Murphy is packing his bags for Vancouver, Patrick Singleton faces an anxious wait to see if he will be allowed to compete at his fourth Winter Games.

The skeleton rider narrowly failed to automatically qualify for a spot at next month's event, and must now rely on his sport's governing body, the FIBT, to decide if they have any spare places to hand out.

A poor start to the season, when Singleton struggled in the early races in Europe, was only marginally offset by a good sixth-placed finish in Lake Placid. And with only a limited number of places available to the smaller countries, the Bermudian's fate is now in someone else's hands.

The FBIT have a number of 'unfilled quota' places for next month's Games that can be filled by athletes who did not automatically qualify. Countries can apply for one of these spots through an application process that the governing body is currently going through.

For Singleton, who finished the season 57th in the points table after a good race last week, it may all boil down to his position in the rankings as of January 17, the date of the final qualifying race.

If the Bermudian is inside the top 60 then he will have a better chance of being selected. However, it all depends on his ranking in relation to the other competitors, especially as he is believed to have been outside of the top 60 at that time.

Murphy, though, has no such concerns and after a winter away preparing in Montana, Vermont, and Quebec, will compete at his first Games. He was officially named in the Bermuda team following a Bermuda Olympic Association meeting on Tuesday night.

"I can officially tell you we have been able to confirm Tucker Murphy's representation in the cross-country event," said BOA president Judy Simons.

"But the FIBT still have not confirmed their 30 places for the Olympics, so we are waiting on that. It is a process that all the countries are going through.

"Hopefully the decision will be made soon. There are issues with countries who have more than one athlete participating in a skeleton event, and the maximum number is only three per country, and stuff like that, so we are waiting for those numbers to be finalised.

"I believe Patrick is just off the numbers, so we are waiting to see if he's made the cut."

Murphy will be accompanied to Vancouver by Chef de Mission Carol Bromby, team manager Michael Murphy, as well as Simons, and Phil Guishard.