Patrick Singleton?s Olympic year hinges on four races this weekend.

The Bermudian skeleton star will take his place in the Challenge Cup field in Konigsee, Germany, desperate to achieve the top eight finish that will earn him a spot in Torino in less than a month?s time.

Singleton has twice negotiated his way through the Challenge Cup minefield to earn spots in successive World Championships but the competition will be keener this weekend as all the sliders have been working hard ahead of their chance to earn the ultimate prize.

?I am feeling confident that I will qualify although I know it is going to be tougher this year,? said Singleton, speaking from Austria where he has escaped for a few days from the hurly-burly surrounding the highly pressurised qualification race to be held this Saturday and Sunday.

?I need to sit down with my coach and sort out some form of strategy and to decide whether to go for the win or just play it safe and try and secure any spot.

?I have been through this before so I know what sort of time I need and I am used to the pressure surrounding the event.

?Things are a little more intense this year because of the Olympics, there are going to be a lot of protests and the weaker athletes in particular are going to be trying every psychological trick in the book to try and earn their place.

?My coach brought us out here to Austria to get away from all of it for a few days and we are going to return at the latest possible time.?

Singleton, will make the two-hour journey to Germany today with the goal to finish in the top eight of qualifying, although he could finish as low as 15th and still make it depending on the nationalities of those athletes who beat him.

It?s always a difficult event to approach given how badly things could go wrong in what is effectively a ?one-shot deal?.

?You have to be careful because if you mess up here then all the work is down the drain and there are no Olympics at the end of it all,? said Singleton, who made the podium recently in the British Home Nations Championship with a third-place finish, having led after two of the three runs.

?I think I am in a good position and am confident that I can qualify but there has to be a level of anxiety about the whole thing. It is about being able to handle the pressure of a do or die situation and I think feeling a little bit of nervousness and anxiety is a good thing, it helps keep me focused and concentrated which is never a bad thing.

?But the level of competition is going to be high. There are a lot of athletes who you wouldn?t think would have any chance of qualifying who have basically been sitting up in Konigsee getting in as many as 200 runs. They have been pulling out some big times ? even though they probably wouldn?t do anything anywhere else ? and their performances have been a surprise.

?I just have to remain focused on myself and what I need to do and not get distracted by all the other athletes and the pressures of the event.?

Should Singleton be successful he will then travel almost immediately to Switzerland to compete in St. Moritz in a Europa Cup event before returning to his UK training base to put in some physical work ahead of the Torino Games.

? I am certainly not as strong and fast as I was at the beginning of the season,? added Singleton, who put in an intense summer of sprint and weight training.

?It?s something that all athletes suffer from as the year goes on. But I?d like to get back to some physical work to try and just get my start that little bit faster for when it matters.?