PA Sport is following Great Britain downhill skier Roger Cruickshank throughout his build-up to next month's Winter Olympics in Turin.In his own weekly column RAF flying officer Cruickshank will reveal the highs and lows of life on the World Cup circuit as he seeks to fulfil one of his lifetime ambitions.
My Olympic preparations will take a major step forward this weekend when I head to Chamonix to compete in only my second World Cup downhill.
It is a different world and one to which all skiers aspire when they start racing, never mind when they have come back so soon from a career-threatening injury.
My expectations are realistic and not especially high as I will be starting right from the back. My goal is a top 30 finish but I know how hard that will be achieve in a World Cup race.
The World Cup circuit is such an elite gathering and the biggest difference is the media interest - when you go into the start gate there is a huge wide-angle lens pointing into your face.
It's far more exciting being involved in the World Cup not least when it comes just before the Olympics and can help introduce me to what it is going to be like in Turin.
Thanks to Audi who sponsor the British team and provide us with a fleet of cars to get around, I was able to travel in comfort during the eight-hour drive from our training base in Lofer to Chamonix.
It brought back memories of the days when things were nowhere near as luxurious and we travelled all over the continent in a rickety old van where sleeping was an art in itself.
We would just set off from Scotland for whichever destination was on the agenda and would think nothing of spending 30 hours on the road at a time because we did not have the money to fly.
Fortunately getting to the Olympic course at Sestriere will not be such a chore and I will be heading there full of confidence after spending a really valuable week away from race action, taking time to relax and step back.
We will go to Italy straight from Chamonix and start training straight away as the men's downhill takes place on only the second day of Games competition.
It looks like my dad and two sisters will be travelling out to the Games, as well as some of good friends, so it will be great to know I have plenty of support on the big day.
Because of the event schedule it does look likely that I will have to miss the opening ceremony down in Turin which is a shame but cannot be helped. It will just be great to be a part of the whole thing.
E-mail Article 
Print-Friendly
Subscribe to RSS Feed 
Post to del.icio.us
Facebook
