Tre Houston admits he would one day consider competing in a winter sport as part of a ‘Cool Runnings’ style switch from sprinting to skeleton racing.

Just like in the hit movie a true story based on a team of ex-Jamaican sprinters who reached the Winter Olympics in bobsledding Bermuda Winter Olympian Patrick Singleton has approached Houston about making a future move to the skeleton.

Veteran of three Winter Olympics, Singleton believes Houston’s pace and power would enable him to make the transition from sprinting into skeleton racing in which an individual rides a small sled down a frozen track while lying face down, reaching up to speeds of 80 miles per hour.

But Houston will not be hurling himself down that very different type of track any time soon with the 19-year-old training flat out in preparation for next year’s Pan Am Games in Mexico and the 2012 London Olympics.

“I was approached and asked to contact Winter Olympian Patrick Singleton ... he sent me a message saying that he had been watching me over the past few years and that I have the potential to compete for the 2014 Winter Olympics,” said Houston.

“But at this point I’m not bothered but I will put some thought into it in the long run if I don’t reach my full potential in athletics. Right now my heart is in track and the 2012 Olympics are just around the corner that’s my main focus. I’ve now been in winter training for four weeks and I’m enjoying and hurting in every session.”

UK-based Houston knows little about the sport of skeleton but reckons he would possess the natural skills to do well.

“I don’t know too much about the sport but from an educated guess I think you need power, strength and the (sprint) form to compete well,” he said.

Houston has spent the past year working with world-renowned sprint coach Tony Lester in London and sometimes trains at Brunel University where the British skeleton team are based.

At this summer’s Commonwealth Games in Delhi, India, he achieved a personal best in the quarter-finals of the 100m with a time of 10.45 seconds and also reached the semi-finals of the 200m.

And Singleton, who competed in the luge in Nagano Olympics in 1998, the Salt Lake City Olympics in 2002 and in the skeleton in Turin Olympics in 2006, would like to see Bermuda sprinters, such as Houston, make the move into skeleton racing when their running careers had ended.

He said that more and more veteran sprinters were making the crossover as the skeleton had a very similar skill set.

“Skeleton is now recruiting athletes from a sprint background as it’s a sprint-based sport,” said Singleton, who recently underwent surgery on a serious shoulder injury.

“That’s the way the sport is moving and as a result I’ve been talking to sprinters and coaches in Bermuda for a number of years.

“There’s a potential to develop a skeleton programme in Bermuda with track athletes ... the elements that make up a good skeleton racer make up a good sprinter.”

Singleton considers Houston one of the Island’s most promising athletes for some time but would only like to see him try his hand at the skeleton once he has fulfilled his sprinting potential.

“The British skeleton team is based at Brunel University where Tre sometimes trains so it was only a matter of time before I ran into some of the guys he trains with,” said Singleton, who is one of 80 former athletes involved in the World Olympic Association looking to promote and develop sport in their home countries.

“I spoke to him recently about the skeleton and we would be very interested to try him out in the future.

“We’re not, by any means, trying to recruit him at the moment because he’s very interested in track and that’s where his focus needs to be. Skeleton is just a future option for him if he was interested.

“Tre’s a tremendous Bermudian talent and is only 19 and he’s working with world class coaches and doing everything right. I think he has a really bright sprinting future.”

Several well-known athletes have attempted winter sports over the years. Former England sprinter Jason Gardner teamed up with former Olympic decathlete Dean Macey in a two-man bobsled in a bid to qualify for the Winter Olympics in 2010, while former Dallas Cowboys player Herschel Walker competed in the 1992 Winter Olympics in two-man bob, finishing seventh.