Years of learning to slide down an ice track headfirst rather than feet first will pay off for Patrick Singleton today as he realises his Olympic dream for the third time.

Bermuda?s sole participant at the Torino Games will go off 21st out of 27 competitors in today?s skeleton at Cesana Pariol desperate to make his trip to Italy worthwhile despite a nagging hip injury.

In practice Singleton was a little slower in his start than he would have liked but buoyed by the silver medal success of training partner Shelley Rudman last night, the sliding star is brimming with confidence.

?The plan was to watch the girls compete to see how the track was behaving and what effect the weather was having,? said Singleton, who will make a last-minute decision on which runners to use on his sled based on the amount of frost collecting.

?But watching Shelley, who I share a coach with, getting the silver, her country?s first, that is just the boost I wanted. I have been feeling pretty relaxed and this is going to really help me when I go out there.?

A hip injury has been plaguing Singleton for a few weeks now and slowing him down during the intense push start ? slowing him from to 5.18 seconds in practice from the 4.9 seconds he achieved during official practice last year.

?It is not too bad, it is better than it was a week ago,? he continued.

?My back is still a little tight and I am not able to go all out with my push. But I am still happy with my driving, I have been getting good lines in practice and hopefully a mixture of that and my experience in the big competition will help me.?

Singleton is hoping that despite the handicap of the injury and a relatively poor starting slot ? not his fault, as he is actually seeded at the top of his group while the better slots all go to bigger nations ? he can still make it into the top 15.

Although a modest target based on talk of medals over the past 12 months, Singleton sees it as a realistic one given his injury and the relatively short length of time he has spent in the sport since moving across from luge.

The Bermudian recorded the 13th best time in the first practice run but hasn?t been as happy with his runs since, although a bizarre schedule that saw him competing at midnight on Tuesday and then again at 8a.m. on Wednesday morning didn?t help ? nor has the state of the track.

Although the crashes which have monstered the luge competition aren?t likely to be repeated in skeleton, there are still grumblings from the athletes over the state of the course.

?It is very odd ice, it certainly isn?t up to Olympic ice standard,? continued Singleton, who also described the athletes? village as ?a bit of a building site?.

?The ice isn?t well maintained, it makes for a pretty ugly course. I?m not sure which runners I?m going to go with, it is just a case of how much frost forms, and how quickly it does.

?I imagine it is going to make it tough for the guys going later, but there?s nothing you can do about that.?

Despite the injury and the poor starting slot, Singleton is feeling confident and relaxed ahead of his 12.30 p.m. (Bermuda time) competition.

?I?ve been here before, although in luge, so I know what to expect,? he added.

?I am looking forward to competing and doing my best for Bermuda and for myself. I?m sure there are going to be some guys around me self-destructing with the nerves, so it is just a case of concentrating, driving well and making the most of it all.

?If I can come off there knowing I couldn?t have done any more then that will be good enough for me.?