Jon Eley insists the only way is up after Great Britain’s men claimed 5000m relay bronze at the Seoul World Cup.
Eley was joined by Paul Stanley, Richard Shoebridge and Jack Whelbourne as they crossed the line just behind Canada and the USA in first and second respectively to take home bronze.
The British quartet also finished ahead of World Cup points leader Russia to claim their first first World Cup medal since they won silver at the Shanghai World Cup in 2011.
It also comes as a timely boost for the former World Record holders ahead of the Olympic qualifiers in Torino and Kolomna next month and Eley admits he can’t wait to get back out on the ice.
“We’ve been in the mix for medals at the World Cups for a while but we haven’t quite made the podium,” he said.
“It’s nice to get back into the medals particularly ahead of next month and it will give us confidence going into the qualifiers.”
Elise Christie was also strutting her stuff in a final as she went in the women’s 1000m showpiece, finishing fifth.
In the 1500m semi-final, a fall involving Christie and Jianrou Li of China in the final two laps meant the race was restarted. Christie, who was in a qualifying position, and Li were not allowed to restart and subsequently did not progress to the finals.
Performance director Stuart Horsepool said: “Elise was OK after her fall in the 1500 and she went on to skate very well through her qualifying rounds to make the final of the 1000 metres.
“The three Korean’s did skate as a unit which made it incredibly difficult for her and Jorien Ter Mors of the Netherlands to get past, so with that in mind fifth place was a good result.”
Meanwhile, Jack Whelbourne earned the Brit’s their second top-eight finish of the week by placing eighth in the 500m.
The 22-year-old also broke the British record by over a second in the 1000m to finish ninth overall.
© Sportsbeat 2013