Luger Patrick Singleton declared himself in the best shape of his life with the Olympic Games just 100 days away yesterday.

The Bermudian has been stepping up his training for the Salt Lake City Games which take place in February and has just returned to the United States after a trip to Europe with his team.

It will be his second appearance at the Games having qualified for the 1998 event in Nagano.

He has been testing out a new luge on tracks in Lillehammer in Norway and Konigssee and Oberhoff in Germany.

"I really want to do well. I feel I am in the best shape of my life," said Singleton of his chances in the US. "I have had a really good summer training in Australia concentrating on my strength and fitness and now it's just a question of getting a good amount of runs before the World Cup season starts.

"I have a new sled which I have been testing and have just been getting in as many runs as possible before the first race which is next week in Calgary."

The new equipment represents a departure from what he has been used to.

"It is very, very different. I have always been on a sled that my coach made. And this one is an Italian design that is supposed to be very good," he said.

"For me though it is very difficult to drive on the difficult tracks. It is more difficult to steer. You won't find any girls on the World Cup circuit driving this kind of sled before it is really difficult to turn. If you want to you really have to work hard but in luge you want to try and stay relaxed as do as little steering as possible. It was difficult but it does seem to go quite fast."

In case things don't work out with the new luge, Singleton has hung on to his tried and tested version.

"I still have my old sled, I just wanted to try something new. I have always had trouble with my old sled. It is not as strong. It is very fast but it tends to break down. I wanted to have two sleds this season in case I do break one," he said.

Singleton said the training in Europe had been quite intense.

"We were in Lillehammer two weeks earlier than any other team out there and it was very bumpy.

"We were training in our T-shirts almost. It was 70 degrees outside. The tracks are refrigerated so they can keep the ice, but the quality of it was poor," he said.

"I don't want to say it was dangerous, but it was hair-raising at times because it was so bumpy.

"It was like hitting a speed bump at 120kmh. You were getting a lot of headaches from the G-force and the bumpy track. But it was really good training to start off that way.

"From Lillehammer, which is a relatively easy track apart from the bumps that made it interesting, we went to Konigssee which is a very, very difficult track with a lot of G-force.

"You really have to work the sled a lot. From there we went to Oberhoff which is an even more difficult track. You really have to steer and drive. We got our fundamentals down early."

Singleton said testing himself so early on would stand him in good stead for Salt Lake City.

"The Olympic Games are going to be held on a combined luge and bobsleigh track where you don't really have to drive the sled too much," he said.

"It will be easier to drive on but it will be difficult to go fast because every single minute detail will count.

"On a large track it is easier to make a mistake and the risks are a lot higher because it is easier to crash.

"But on these tracks the chances of mistakes, while still there, are greatly reduced so you are really trying to push it to the limit and go as fast as you can.

"Those small increments add up - if you have a bad start, if you touch wall."

Two aspects of the Salt Lake track could make the difference between a medal or missing out, Singleton said.

"There are two very difficult curves on this track. You almost can't get through them cleanly. I don't they are designed this way. They are very difficult," he said. "I have never seen anyone actually run them clean.

"Those will be the make or break factors in the Olympic Games because whoever wins the race will have done so because they have been able to negotiate these two corners accurately.

"That is all that we are really training for because you know if you negotiate those two curves you know you are home."