WITH the Winter Olympics just around the corner, Rotorua's Ben Sandford is warming up for another big season in his beloved sport.
Sandford is one of only two professional skeleton racers in New Zealand and has spent the last 10 years following the world circuit across North America and Europe.
Sandford, 34, was helped into the sport by his "crazy uncle" Bruce Sandford, who won a gold medal at the skeleton world championships in 1992.
"I guess I love it. I fell in love with it when I first tried it," Sandford said.
The natural athlete who stands at 2m tall, was in New Zealand recently, during his off season, visiting friends and family in Rotorua.
When he returns to training in July he will have extra incentive for the up-coming season.
"The Olympics are being held in February. The ultimate is to win a medal at the Olympics.
"NZOC (New Zealand Olympic Committee) started their qualification during the start of the season just gone so I have already begun qualifying."
To meet the NZOC qualification standard for the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics (Russia), he explained he would need to gain two more top 15 placings during four events in December.
Currently ranked 12th in the world, he was confident he would qualify and was setting his sights much higher than qualification.
"My goal will be on the last day [of Olympic competition] to be in the medals or in the top five, so be up there with a chance of a medal."
After the 2014 Winter Olympics he would consider the possibility of retirement, but had yet to make a decision on his future.
He has competed at two Winter Olympics, finishing 10th in 2006 and 11th in 2010. More recently Sandford picked up a career-high bronze medal at the 2012 FIBT World Championships but was unable to replicate the success at this year's event.
"The wheels fell off that week in February, that was disappointing. I was quite sick and lost a lot of weight."
Sandford said he had put that result behind him and was now looking forward to the up-coming season, which starts in October.
He said there were some tough realities attached to an Olympic season which made it difficult to be around occasionally.
"People are competing against their teammates, it is not so bad for a team like ours because we are so small, but the US, for example, might have 10 guys competing for only three qualification spots. It makes for a nasty team dynamic sometimes," he said.
"You see athlete's dreams drifting away as they miss qualification times, it can be heart- breaking for people."
Sandford is currently in the UK for a wedding and will fly to Singapore later this month to fulfil his duties as a World Anti-Doping Agency representative, at an International Olympic Committee forum.
Sandford will meet up with his Kiwi teammate Katharine Eustace (Wanaka) in Canada in July for a pre-season training camp.
Sandford plans to return to New Zealand in August for a short break before getting his pre-season fully underway and his quest for an Olympic medal.