With time running out, the track just isn?t ready to host Olympic competition.

The athletes? village isn?t built yet. In fact, the location for it hasn?t even been finalised,

Potential Olympians visiting the European city are largely unimpressed with the preparations and are somewhat fearful that not everything will be in place for when they take part in the most important sporting competition of their lives.

But, this time, it is not Athens that is under the microscope ? it is Turin.

?It is pretty much just a building site ? a big hole,? said Bermuda skeleton athlete and wannabe Winter Olympian Patrick Singleton, combining his chosen sport?s governing body?s annual congress with a fact-finding tour around the 2006 venue.

?There appears to be a lot of construction going on, but they don?t seem to have got very far.

?There is a trench and some pipes but not much more.?

But for Singleton, whose shorts worn at the opening ceremony of the 2002 Games in Salt Lake City still hang in the Olympic museum in Lausanne, the lack of preparation of the host venue may not be such a problem.

?In Salt Lake City, the Americans made the most of home track advantage,? said Singleton, who last raced in the Skeleton World Championships in Konigsee back in March but is well into his summer training schedule from his London, England base.

?We only really got a few training runs and the pre-Olympic tournament and training runs for that,? he said.

?You are looking at maybe 15 runs. But the Americans had years to prepare for it, they could have had thousands of runs if they had wanted.

?It is to everyone?s advantage if there are delays in finishing the track because then the Italians won?t get so much of an edge.

?They have to host an official World Cup event the year before, but it doesn?t look like they will be ready much before that.?

The organisation for the skeleton event, to be held around 90 miles away from the central venue in Turin, has been beset by problems.

The first site chosen for the track was deemed unsuitable by environmentalists, the alternative location had an asbestos problem so they moved on to Plan C.

Although initial digs discovered Roman tombs ? which archaeologists are insisting must be preserved ? organisers have chosen to press on with the track, opting to build around the ancient structures.

Arriving at a largely unconstructed track ? and in the summer ? ensured that Singleton?s trip didn?t give him any pre-Olympic nerves, or many emotions at all about the 2006 showpiece in which he is hoping to excel.

?It would be fair to say I had no emotional or spiritual feeling visiting the site,? he continued.

?There was no feeling of ?this is it? or anything like that. It is almost hard to picture how it is going to look come winter time.

?And even when winter comes it will be strange because tracks are normally built in the shade but this one won?t be ? so it will be interesting to see how they keep it cool enough.?

As well as visiting the track, Singleton also made sure he made the most of the congress that was taking place at the same time.

?While I was there I made sure I moved around and made a lot of contacts,? said Singleton, who doesn?t have the luxury of a large national association backing his Games cause.

?Things like booking tracking time, talking to coaches, talking to other national associations. It was worth going just for that.?

Singleton has booked time on the track at La Plagne, one of the nearest tracks to Turin, in the lead-up to an event which he feels will be his chance to shine.

?I am already getting excited about these Olympics,? he added.

?I need to do a lot of fund-raising between now and then to ensure I can compete the way I want to and get the preparation I need.

?But I am going to get to these Olympics and I am going to do well at these Olympics.?