SKELETON: Skeleton is a sport that almost defies logic. Just you, a lycra suit, shoes, helmet and small sled hurtling face down along a 1400 metre refrigerated track.
Sochi Olympian John Farrow, now 35 and a new father, is in the hunt for a career-best performance and is back for a second Olympic Games with the full support of his partner Chrissy and family.
Not a pursuit for the faint-hearted, skeleton isn’t a new sport, having first appeared on the Olympic schedule in 1928 and again in 1948, yet it’s been back in full force since the Salt Lake 2002 Games on the seventeen bobsleigh tracks world-wide.
Australians have competed in Olympic Skeleton since 2006 with the best result so far achieved by Emma Lincoln-Smith in Vancouver in 2010 who came in tenth.
Farrow finished 17th in Sochi, the best male result for an Australian male at Olympic level.
“The lure has always been there,” Farrow said from his base in Oregon, USA. “When you are there the speed is pretty full on.
“It’s definitely addictive and takes a certain personality type who like that rush and challenge.”
His path and determination to make it to Sochi after a track mishap in 2011 was extraordinary. The injuries Farrow sustained in one accident and then recovered from to compete at his first Games is a list that can only make you think he must be made of sterner stuff.
The injuries included an ACL, LCL, hamstring, popliteal tendon, breaking his tibia and peroneal nerve damage, that left him with a partially paralysed foot for a number of years.
After backing himself to Sochi, he is now fighting fit and going after PyeongChang.
Farrow’s top speed of 144kms per hour recorded in Whistler would be equivalent to the Sydney native travelling from his home in Turramurra the 23 kilometres to Sydney’s CBD in around nine and half minutes.
“You get about 6G force,” he explained. “If you want to know what that feels like, then have five of your friends lie on top of you and then go at speed. That’s the feeling we get.”
Farrow qualified for Sochi just before the Games, but since 2014 he is now more than ready, having won seven Nor Am events and the overall Nor Am series for 2016/17.
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“Last season I was in the top twenty qualifiers in World Cups, which is a lot more consistent. Before Sochi it was mid-20s. Now I’m looking to make it into the top ten.”
“I’m in really good shape. Our federation had testing and it’s pleasing to know that my sprints and lifting numbers were the highest they’ve ever been. I’m excited for PyeongChang but more than that I’m just ready. Before Sochi I was nervous. Now it’s just repeating it.
“I’m happy that I’m more prepared to bring on a better result and feeling confident.
“There’s been a big change since 2014 because our program downsized. As a consequence, we’ve focussed on team work and recruiting new athletes,” he said.
“I’ve sort of taken a leadership role mentoring younger athletes. It’s helped my development as well and I’ve tried to encourage younger sliders.”
Farrow first saw Skeleton when he watched the 2006 Torino Games and contacted Emma Lincoln-Smith.
“I messaged Emma, who was then on the women’s program, and she was always very helpful and encouraging. It’s cool that now I can pay that back the help I received through the female program by helping to establish a male program. We now have six licensed Australian male sliders.”
Lincoln-Smith is looking forward to seeing what Farrow can produce this season.
“John has had his fair share of ups and downs but what I noticed most about him is that he never gives up,” Lincoln-Smith said.
“It would have been more than understandable if he walked away after his injury but he worked hard and never gave up and I’m so glad that he got to compete in the Sochi Olympics and I’m looking forward to seeing what he does in Korea.”
“He has a great feel for the ice and how to relax into it, be at one with his sled and a good understanding of his ability and his equipment. It’s been really nice to see,” Lincoln-Smith added.
Seven races over a four-month qualification period for thirty skeleton riders to PyeongChang begins at Lake Placid on November 10, with each nation having a maximum of three entries. Points are tallied over the qualification races.
“It’s about consistency over the seven races,” Farrow said.
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Training is mostly a solitary affair in Oregon where Farrow works on sprint and power before travelling north to Calgary in Canada to use the ice start facility for push starts.
Competitive skeleton sleds cost up to $10,000 but that’s not where athletes begin.
“Most new athletes will pick up a cheap second-hand sled for one or two years because they need to learn to go straight and not bash into walls.”
“It takes about three years until most sliders are competent and safe to go down straight. That’s about when you start to know to know what you’re doing.”
“There’s a lot of components going on. Equipment, clothing, shoes, then the sport component. You need to be a fast sprinter and know your equipment.”
“We have a specially made small, lightweight helmet, which can withstand 6G force. Any extra weight buries your head on the ground and you need to be able to lift your head to see.”
The all-important start requires good grip on the icy track.
“When I do school talks, the kids are always fascinated to hear that our shoes have five hundred little needle spikes.”
Because skeleton athletes are not permitted to have padded suits or anything that could be considered aerodynamic, racing suits are just lycra, which makes it very cold at the top of a run where temperatures could be as low as minus 20.
“Yeah, you feel the cold up top but then adrenalin kicks in and you don’t feel it at the bottom."
Belinda Noonan
OWIA
