SKELETON
Thanks to British Bobsleigh and Skeleton (BSSA) we’ve interviewed two stars of skeleton, both of whom enjoyed and competed in other sports first!
Hopefully you’ll see them both compete at the Winter Olympics in 2022.
Craig Thompson
You were a footballer before you became a skeleton slider, why did you move sports?
I wanted to represent my country and skeleton gave me the opportunity to do that.
What appealed about skeleton as it's such a different sport?
I've always liked to try new things and I thought ‘Why not try this? I’ve got nothing to lose and it could be really exciting.
Which 3 words best describe the feeling of being in a skeleton race?
Nerves, excitement, pride
What is your favourite part of the sport?
It’s the feeling of getting a run right, especially in competitions. It’s hard to explain but it’s an amazing feeling.
What speeds do you reach?
The top speed recorded in skeleton is over 90mph. We probably average 75mph across most of the tracks in the world.
Have you ever been badly injured?
I’ve unfortunately had major knee operations and a series of hamstring and quadriceps injuries.
What sports do you enjoy?
Football, golf, and the odd spot of surfing.
Do you have a pre race routine?
It's not a routine but I notice I seem to put my left spike on before my right. It was the same when I put boots on before a football game!
What are your greatest achievements so far in skeleton?
Finishing second overall on the second tier of competition across a full season of racing and winning a World Cup silver medal in Igls last season.
What are your ambitions in skeleton?
I want to become an Olympian and win Olympic and World Championship medals.
Brogan Crowley
You were a heptathlete before skeleton...what was your favourite event?
My favourite event was the 100m hurdles. I used to love anything that was sprint based because, before heptathlon, I was also a sprinter.
Why did you move sports and why to something so different?
I was struggling with a lot of ankle injuries in athletics and I wasn’t enjoying it. I was watching the Winter Olympics in Sochi in 2014 and I saw an advert for a talent ID programme. It looked fun and different so I thought I’d apply for it.
What skills from your athletics training and competing help with your new sport?
I did a lot of similar training in athletics to what I do now in skeleton. I did a lot of gym work and a lot of sprinting and I really enjoyed that. We do a lot of that type of training in skeleton, especially in the summer. I also used to compete over two days when I did heptathlon so I used to have to finish the first day, get some rest and recover and then go again the next day. It’s like that in skeleton at the World Champs and Olympics.
How did you find out about skeleton as a sport and get started?
That was when I was watching the Winter Olympics in 2014. I didn’t know anything about it at all before then. After applying for the talent ID scheme, I went through lots of different selection phases before going out on ice for the first time and I was then selected on to the programme in January 2015.
What do you enjoy most about skeleton?
The thing I enjoy the most is the adrenaline rush. It’s so much fun. Every track is so different and you get to go to so many different places all over the world. I also love the training for it. I love the gym work and the sprint work and we do a lot of that to get fast for the push start.
What special training routines do you need to do to prepare for races?
The main thing for me is that I treat my races exactly the same as I treat a training run. Nothing really changes apart from the fact that I‘ll be wearing a race bib over my race suit and the warm up for the race takes longer. There are specific things that you can’t do with your sled before a race so that’s a little different but everything else is normal – nothing really changes and I like to keep it like that.
Do you have a pre race routine?
Normally the night before a race, I do a little bit of mobility and stretching to take my mind off things and to make sure I’m able to push fast the next day. I also sew my race bib - I find that quite therapeutic. My pre-race routine on race day itself is exactly the same as in training. I do everything in the same order as I would do in training, the way I put my race suit on, my helmet on, my shoes - it’s all the same as in training.
What's the next big event you're taking part in?
I’m currently competing on the World Cup circuit. We race most weekend between now and the Olympics in February.
What other sports do you enjoy?
I enjoy a lot of sports and I played a lot of sports when I was younger. I enjoyed things like netball, rounders, athletics, rugby, football, gymnastics and trampolining. I also enjoying watching sport. I support Manchester City and I enjoying going to watch them play when I’m home from the skeleton season.
What are your ambitions in skeleton?
I’m aiming to go the Olympics next year in Beijing and I want to win a medal there. Beyond that, I want to go for another four years to the 2026 Olympics in Milan Cortina and increase my medal chances there. I’d also like to win a World Championship medal in between Beijing and Milan and maybe even challenge for an overall World Cup title.
Photo credit: @rekords on Instagram
