Passion and Determination the Key to Success for NZ Skeleton Racer

Passion and Determination the Key to Success for NZ Skeleton Racer

Skeleton racer Rhys Thornbury is expecting the Olympic track to be running fast when competition gets underway on Thursday 15 February. He’ll be racing head first down an icy track at speeds in excess of 120 km/h using just slight movements of his knees and shoulders to steer his sled.

The slightest mistake and “before you know it, the next corner’s there and ready to smack you in the face,” explains Rhys.

Rhys Thornbury2

It begs the question: how do you even get started in this sport?

It wasn’t something Rhys Thornbury grew up imagining himself doing.

“I think I watched it on TV at the Olympics back in 2006 and thought that looks cool, but back then I never thought I would ever do it.”

But a few years later, in 2011 Rhys – by now an airforce weapons technician with the RAF – happened upon an ad in the RAF newspaper: an opportunity to give skeleton racing a go on a week-long training camp. From that moment a new passion was born.

“I was determined to be good at it before I even started,” he says.

Love of the sport and a determination to succeed proved a winning formula and in time, the results began to follow.

“You’re always chasing improvement and that got me hooked,” Rhys explains. “Then I went out and started testing myself against the best in the world. For the last seven years I’ve been getting better and better which just makes you hungry to do more and be shoulder to shoulder with the best.

“Two seasons ago I started to get good results and thought, this could really be on the cards. I knew that if I matched those results this season then I had a really good shot at making the New Zealand Olympic team.”

Fast forward to February 2018 and Rhys says: “It’s a huge honour to be here representing New Zealand and to be part of the biggest team New Zealand has ever sent to a winter games with team mates who are some of the best in the world in their own sports and real medal contenders.

“When you’re around people of that kind of calibre it just makes you better. Greatness brings out greatness in others.”