Israel's First Ever World Cup Skeleton Race

This past Friday marked my and Israel's first ever FIBT Skeleton World Cup race.  What an amazing experience it was.

Whistler as most of you may know is the site of the sliding sports center from the 2010 Vancouver games.  It is one of the most difficult tracks in the world to slide and hands down the fastest in the world.  I'm sure most if not all of you can vaguely recall the death of a Luge athlete from Georgia during the first training runs leading up to the games.  It is not a track to be taken lightly and one that I was extremely hesitant to even attempt.  Skeleton athletes can reach speeds in excess of 85mph while entering the last curve, Curve 16, which is a hairpin, 180 degree turn. 

In order to prepare for the most difficult track in the world, I first and foremost made sure to arrive early.  I had no intention of beginning from the top of the track, and I arrived 2 weeks before the start of official training (so three weeks before the day of the race) so that I could gradually move up.  I started at curve 7, from which I already reached speeds more or less comparable to those I reach from the top in Lake Placid.  I quickly learned though that it wasn't so much the speed as the speed combined with the profile of the curves that make this track so difficult.

They truly outdid themselves when they made this track.  One of the more technical aspects of sliding is what is known as a "Double Oscillation" curve.  This means you go up and come down the wall (due to gravity and the shape of the curve) twice.  The only time I had ever encountered these types of curves, there was a single one.  On this track they strung two together at one point, meaning that you really had to get the first one right or you were in trouble for the second.  Complicate this by going 75mph while doing it and you are in for the most difficult skill set the sport has to offer, in my opinion. 

I improved steadily during the weeks of training though.  By the end, I had actually come to really enjoy and appreciate the complexities and difficulties which this track offers to the athletes.  After being in Whistler I am sure that I am a much better overall slider.  I'm actually looking forward to the other tracks now a little more, to see how much I have improved.  For those of you that always ask me if I'm still scared I can honestly say that after Whistler nothing in this sport can phase me.  Once you go 85mph, going 77 or so on other tracks just seems boring.  Yes, I just used the word boring to describe going head first at 77mph.

The other aspect though of the trip was the AMAZING response of the Jewish community in Whistler to the team.  I simply cannot overstate how amazing and welcoming the community was.  I stayed with 3 different families, and had to turn down requests from many others.  It was a huge honor and pleasure to stay with them, and I have made many new friendships which I hope to carry with me for a lifetime. 

This trip was amazing.  Although I would ultimately finish last in the race, I "pushed" (the first 50m sprint) only .01 (that's one one-hundreth) of a second slower than the 4 way tie for 13th at 4.75.  If I had pushed a 4.73 (that's three ONE-HUNDRETHS of a second) faster, I would have been in the Top 10, at a World Cup race.  This solidified for me that as far as athleticism goes, I belong amongst the best in the world in the sport.  The sliding will come with experience.

During 3 weeks of amazing experiences though, there is one that stands out:

The day before the race, we had a get together with the Jewish community.  Roy, a member of the federation who organized this, brought along his friend Dan who was an officer in the Israeli Air Force.  He addressed the crowd and told him how special it was for him to see the Israeli flag flying, literally on the other side of the Earth.  He looked at me and said, "When I saw the flag flying over the track, as an officer of the IDF, it was so amazing.  And to think that YOU, alone, YOU did this.  You have no coach, no money, not even a uniform to wear, and YOU brought the Israeli flag here, to this place, on the other side of the world.  I cannot thank you enough, or explain to you how much that meant to me."

He started crying; I started crying.  It was one of the most powerful moments of my life.  I was never so proud and overwhelmed.  Dan, if you are reading this, thank you.  I hope I do all Israeli's and all Jewish people the world over, proud.  I am so proud to represent the Jewish people in this sport.  It is truly an honor which I cannot describe.

On to Calgary, on the way to the World Championships in Placid, with just a little bit more of a twinkle of confidence in my eye.

Thanks everyone for the support, it means so much.

-Bradley 

New Blog Post for AlefNext Magazine

All,

AlefNext has been kind enough to ask me to do some writing for them.  They just today released a new post that I wrote for them.  If you would like to check it out, the link where it can be found is:

http://alefnext.com/sports/an-athelete-for-israel/

As for what is going on right now, I am getting ready for the second half of the season.  The first season saw Israel win her first Skeleton medal.  The second half is going to see me compete in a World Cup Race, which will be the first time ever for an Israeli athlete.  Also, World Championships are coming up in February, where I am shooting for a top 25 finish.

Once the second half of the season gets underway, I will be sure to let you know all about it right here.

-Bradley

Winning Israel's First Skeleton Medal

I am proud to let all of you know that Israel now has a Skeleton medal to her credit.

In every Skeleton competition except for the Olympic Games, medals are given out to the top 6 finishers.  In the last America's Cup race, held in Lake Placid, I finished 5th.  This won Israel her first Skeleton medal at any level, adding that accomplishment to the recent World Championship appearance.  It is and exciting time for the IBSF, and the whole team couldn't be happier.

It's a really great feeling to know that you won the first medal for an entire nation.  I am immensely proud for myself, Israel, and everyone who has been working so hard behind the scenes to make this a reality.  With this medal under the team's belt, the sky is the limit.  Things just keep getting better for us, and we all can't wait to see what is going to come next.  

The ultimate goal, of course, is Sochi in 2014 and a strong, winning, Israeli Bobsled/Skeleton federation for the future.  This is just one more step in that direction.  Also, the World Championships are in Lake Placid this year, and I'm sure this is just a preview of what the team can do.  In the future, everything will just keep getting bigger, and better.  The Israeli Bobsled and Skeleton Federation is doing great things, and as of this race, the world is officially on notice.

Next, it is time to go and train hard, hard, hard.  I'm here in Lake Placid for the rest of December.  In January however, I'm hopeful to go to Whistler, the sight of the 2010 Winter Olympics.  The track in Whistler is fast and difficult, but I'm sure the team will be up to the challenge.  Spending time there will be great as I'm told it's a beautiful town and I can't wait to see it!  

All that will have to wait though, for now.  It's going to be a few weeks of training here in NY and of course, I take one day at a time.  I'm sure though that more and more days will be bring more and more Israeli medals.  

I can't wait.

Getting Ready for Calgary

The first race week of the season is in the books.  The results for race one are 

Here: http://utaholympiclegacy.com/system/downloads/attachments/36/original/Americas%20Cup%20Mens%20Skeleton%20Race%201%20Official%20Results.pdf?1320899048

And for race two here:

http://utaholympiclegacy.com/system/downloads/attachments/44/original/Americas%20Cup%20Mens%20Skeleton%20Race%20Official%20Results.pdf?1320986024

I am happy to say that I finished much higher this year than I did at this race last season.  I pushed 2 tenths faster than last year, had down-times of an entire second and a half faster than last year, and was even in medal contention half-way down the course.  I just didn't have enough time to figure out the bottom of the track.  With more time to learn, train, and improve I'm sure I'll get my first 50.x on this track next season.

So now the focus shifts from Park City, UT to Calgary, Alberta, Canada.  This is going to be my second year sliding on the track at the Canada Olympic Park.  Last year, I had a lot of trouble with curve 8, and actually managed to do a barrel-roll out of it at one point.  I'm obviously hoping to avoid the style points this season.  

I'm confident that this year will be better than last.  The track in Calgary is challenging because you do not generate the speed that you do in other tracks.  That may sound counter-intuitive, but I drive mostly by "feel" (as opposed to others who drive by "sight").  This means that I rely much more heavily on feeling the pressure that my speed generates (literally, getting pushed down into the ice) in the curves than I do my sight in making my decisions about when and how to steer.  I found it very difficult to do this last year b/c the pressures were much more subtle.

With another year under my belt, and a concerted effort by me to work on my driving after having had so much difficultly in Calgary last season, I'm going in more prepared this year.  My plan for the week is to not try to do too much.  Of all the skills required of a good slider, I excel most at holding my form on my sled and I need to focus on that.  Sometimes, if you start to think too much about driving you get sloppy with form, and I don't want that to happen.  I need to be relaxed, despite my lack of familiarity with the course.

Although I swore I would never take this drive again, I am going to be driving up to Calgary tomorrow with a few other athletes.  Luckily, I will be taking a plane home to Montreal/Lake Placid so I won't have to do it twice.  For those of you who remember my epic blog post about the "whiteout" drive through Montana, I'm hoping to avoid that this season.  Wish me luck.

Hope you all have a nice weekend!

-Bradley

The first race of the 2010/2011 season

Today was a frustrating day.

After an entire off-season of diet changes, workout tweaks, equipment purchases and logistical planning the first race of the season finally arrived today. Although I qualified Israel for her first ever FIBT World Cup spot, I decided to start the year off racing on the Americas Cup circuit, which is one of the qualification circuits for the World Cup. This circuit kicked off it's season in Park City, Utah. I did this for a few reasons, not the least of which is that I am chasing Israel's first ever medal in the Skeleton, and this is where I have the best shot at it.

So I was really disappointed today when I only took a tie for 10th out of 21 competitors. Really, there are so many reasons to be encouraged by that result. For starters, I managed to achieve it despite the fact that I missed the first day of training here due to a logistical malfunction, so today was only my 5th and 6th runs down the track here this season. Some of the other athletes had been training all last week in addition to a full training week this week. Second, other than the US and Canadian teams I only lost to two other sliders, which means vis-a-vis the rest of the world I didn't do so badly. Third, my first run was a personal best by an entire second on this track, and marked a 3 second improvement in 3 days and 5 runs. Fourth, my coach used the words "too controlled" to describe my driving this week. Although not intended as a compliment it made me happy because it validated that my awareness on my sled as well as my ability to drive has vastly improved over last year. Finally, I improved 8 spots I think over last season when I did this race.

Ultimately, I only missed a medal by a few tenths of a second on each run. However, I had the same thing happen to me last season in Lake Placid, where I took 7th by .2 seconds (top 6 get medals). Also, "a few tenths of a second on each run" is the name of the game in Skeleton. And so I'm very frustrated. I'm also exhausted, because I gave it my all.

I definitely think I psyched myself out a little, unfortunately. My first run was a whole second faster and yet only good enough for 10th, even though I was only .23 seconds out of 8th. At that point I felt like my best was not good enough, and it was of course all downhill from there. My second run was significantly worse. I mistimed my warm up, so i was a little stiff off the block and made three key driving errors in big spots on the track. Game over.

Skeleton can be such a frustrating sport for the same reason it is exhilarating. There is so little room for error. Although this is only my second full season, I expect myself to be able to ride that edge and today on my second run I failed to do that. I don't know if I'm more upset with the first run, where my virtual best wasn't good enough, or the second run where I let my frustrations get the better of me. Neither one feels very good though, I'm sure of that.

All I can do is keep improving, of course. It's still hard though when you are a competitive person and have never won any hardware. I struggle sometimes to keep my athletic purpose, and have to rely extra heavily on my my desire to represent Israel as well as I can to keep me going. I've now missed out on winning something by a few tenths of a second no less than three times in three straight seasons. For any competitive person, that can start to stick in your brain and get frustrating. You start to second guess yourself and your abilities. I'm desperately trying not to, but I would be lying if I said I wasn't right now.

Tomorrow is another race and another chance to find those few tenths of a second of such angst. My legs are genuinely exhausted after today, but it's another day to go out and chase that elusive first medal for myself and for Israel. I will give it my best as always. I'm just waiting for that day when my best will be good enough to finish where I want to be an not just for moral victories. I have a lot to be proud of this week and overall, but I guess no truly competitive person is ever happy until they achieve their goals. Mine remains un-accomplished and so my competitive side will not let me be content with "close" despite some of the positive things to take away from today.

Congratulations to all who raced today and to those who won medals. It was a close race and I made sure to shake hands afterwards with those I saw who raced. I will do the same at the award ceremony tomorrow. There is never an excuse for poor sportsmanship and it would be beneath myself and Israel.

I will keep striving for improvements, day in and day out, as always. No matter how frustrating it gets, that will always be my goal as long as I'm sliding because that's who I am and that's how I roll when I'm determined to do something. And I'm determined to do this, even if it hurts right now.

Tomorrow is another race, and another chance for a breakout session. I'm going to do all I can to get there and won't let up. You can't quit on things just bc they didn't go your way that day. I can't thank everyone enough for all the kind words and support. They truly mean the world to me. Thank you all from the bottom of my heart.

I will let you all know how it goes tomorrow. And you can always follow on twitter: @TeamIsraelSkele

-Bradley