Bermuda Rhodes Scholar Tucker Murphy has set his sights on representing the Island at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.

The cross-country skier is currently competing at the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships in Liberec in the Czech Republic as he tries to qualify for the Games which begin in February next year.

Murphy finished 41st in the 10K race in a time of 37 minutes 41.08 seconds, and will continue to compete in Europe until March 16.

"I do hope to represent Bermuda next year, assuming I am able to meet the qualification standards," said Murphy yesterday.

Murphy is aiming to be one of three possible Winter Olympians to represent Bermuda in Vancouver, alongside the skeleton duo of Patrick Singleton and Jay William Rewalt.

Singleton is a veteran of three previous Winter Games, having represented Bermuda in 1998, 2002, and 2006, and is the senior partner in the now two-man Bermuda Skeleton Team.

The newest member, Rewalt, will also be aiming to qualify for the Games in Vancouver, having been introduced to the sport by Singleton in 2005. He recently competed in Park City in the US, finishing 26th in the competition last December.

Murphy, a former Saltus Grammar School pupil, has a strong background in his sport, having competed as a member of his Dartmouth team at the US and Argentina National Championships.

An infrequent visitor to the Island, he also runs and was back in January, finishing a highly respectable third in the Fairmont-to-Fairmont road race, competing in a sport he uses to keep fit for his skiing.

"I do running to stay fit," he said. "When I went to university in the States I got into cross-country skiing at Dartmouth in New Hampshire."

The Oxford Blue is currently completing a doctorate in Zoology and also competes in triathlons (a discipline for which he earned his Oxford honour) as part of his fitness training when he can't get out on to the slopes.