Olympics by qualifying for this weekend's World Luge Championships in Calgary, Canada.

It was the third time in three attempts that Singleton had qualified for a world-class luge race on his first qualifying run.

And three qualifications were what the 26-year-old required to meet the minimum standard to book his place in the Games at Salt Lake City in February next year.

Singleton can now look forward to his second Olympic appearance to follow his debut in the 1998 Nagano Games.

Singleton qualified for this season's World Cup events in Nagano and Salt Lake City before clinching his spot for the 2002 Games in Calgary this week.

Speaking from Canada yesterday, Singleton, though delighted with his achievement, preferred to concentrate on more immediate matters.

"According to the rule books, I'm definitely in (the Olympics),'' he said.

"But it feels a long way off right now. There is a lot of hard work I have to do in the summer. It's a long road ahead.'' Singleton will put the Olympics to the back of his mind this weekend, when he bids to make an impact in Sunday's world championship races.

Bolstered by some impressive times in qualifying, he is quietly confident.

"I qualified with my first run, well under the qualifying time,'' said Singleton. "Calgary is a track I know pretty well and I feel really comfortable here.

"But there are still a couple of corners where I make an error every time.

And that's been costing me about half a second.

"I'm within about half a second of the fastest guys, so if I can sort out corners one and two, I could have a good race.

"I don't like to make predictions, but it's promising, the way things have been going.'' Singleton trained early yesterday morning morning in temperatures of minus-16 degrees Centigrade and he will make his final training run today.

Last week Singleton travelled to Lake Placid, where he and several others decided not to race in the venue's World Cup event, because of the poor state of the track. And his fears turned out to be justified.

"The track actually broke during the event and they had to build an ice wall,'' said Singleton. "They didn't think it would hold, so they had to cancel half the second run. It was a disaster and I'm glad I didn't race.'' Singleton had been faxed copies of The Royal Gazette's story on last week's Government Sports Awards and was delighted to see that fellow Olympians Peter Bromby and Lee White had been recognised for their achievements in Sydney.

"Lee and Peter have always been an inspiration to me and so it was nice to see them getting an award,'' said Singleton.

The Japan-based TV producer is now looking forward to a break from intensive competition.

"This is the last race of the season and I think everyone is looking forward to finishing,'' said Singelton. "It's been a hard season.'' Patrick Singleton