To wear Bermuda shorts or not to wear Bermuda shorts, that is the question facing Winter Olympian Patrick Singleton.

The Island?s sole representative at the Torino games will make a final decision on his apparel for tonight?s opening ceremony at the last minute, as he will over whether or not to carry the flag.

?You are just going to have to wait and see,? said Singleton cryptically, just after arriving in Cesana Pariol where he will compete in the skeleton next Friday.

?I am going to decide nearer the time. It is a great honour to be representing your country but I am here to compete and do my best in the skeleton and I don?t want the opening ceremony, which is something of a sideshow for athletes, to affect my performance.?

Singleton, who is carrying a frustrating and recently-acquired hip injury, is concerned that the 12-hour day that the opening ceremony entails ? particularly when travelling from his mountain base more than two hours outside Torino ? may make the injury worse, as would carrying the relatively heavy flag for four hours.

?It?s something I have to decide on and talk to the BOA about,? continued Singleton.

?It was a great honour to carry the flag at Salt Lake City but I have to think carefully about what to do this time concerning my injury.

?A lot depends on the facilities.

?At Salt Lake there was a heated waiting area and that meant it was easier for me to wear the shorts despite the freezing temperatures.

?Everyone is just going to have to wait and see.?

At the 1998 Games in Nagano, BOA president John Hoskins carried the flag and wore Bermuda shorts, a mantle Singleton took on four years later ? the shorts he wore that day are now in the Olympic museum in Lausanne while his appearance even became the answer to a question on the American quiz show Jeopardy.

Although he is yet to decide what to wear, Singleton confirmed there were a resplendent pair of English Sports Shop-purchased red Bermuda shorts in his kit bag.