Great Britain may have only sent four sliders to the skeleton World Championships but performance director Andi Schmid is expecting some impressive displays and a medal from his squad.
Four Brits will be taking to the ice in the skeleton competition in Igls, Austria – Donna Creighton, Laura Deas, Dom Parsons and David Swift.
And with Deas ranked fourth in the world, Parsons sixth, and Creighton and Swift showing they are capable of competing at international level, Schmid is looking to continue the country’s proud record in the sport.
Schmid said: “Our quite official target is - even though we are not filling the maximum number of quota places - is to again get a medal like the last World Championships, and another two top tens would be a great achievement.
“This keeps us on track for the Pyeongchang games where our goal would be one medal and possibly another, but for that we need to create internal pressure and bring them closer and closer to the medals - if not medals top six.
“This is where we would like to see them next year. If we don’t get that level of experience then maybe we need to rethink the process, but next year I am positive that we have a very strong women’s team with Lizzie coming back.
“It’s not majorly different from the teams in Vancouver and Sochi. The maximum number of quota places for men and women is three and we always went with two for each.
“The positive of this is that you can really focus on them, but on the flip side it’s hard for our coaching and staff team to tell somebody that they haven’t made it.”
The course at Igls has been the venue for two of the best results in Swift’s career after he claimed Junior World Championship silver in 2008 and recorded his best-ever World Cup there last season.
And Schmidt has stressed the importance of making a great start on the track in Austria.
He said: “Already it’s quite clear to everybody that this is a pushers track; Igls is a pushers track where the push means a lot.
“It’s hard to pick it up if you are one or two tenths behind on the push. Swifty is a great pusher and so is Laura, so it suits them. Swifty clicks with the track pretty good, he ran well in a championship there seven years ago. He’s already had a great race there already this year in the Intercontinental Cup as well, so I feel he can do well there.
“That was also part of the decision-making process from our perspective and for Laura and Dominic as well in terms of their push times and sliding achievements.
“For Donna it’s about her consistency; her push is obviously important but when you have an intense race and a strategy, you just need to be consistent.”
The men’s skeleton starts at 8.45am tomorrow morning and finishes at 2.30pm the following day, while the women’s event begins at 8.45am on Friday and finishes at the same time on Saturday. Sportsbeat 2016