From the RAF to NZ Olympian
Corporal Rhys Thornbury is reporting for duty of a different kind next week at the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics in the men’s skeleton race.
The British Royal Air Force weapons technician took up the skeleton discipline in 2011 when he saw it advertised in the newspaper and ‘‘thought it looked awesome’’.
Before that he had never shown a great interest in snow sports, but after he fired in his application, the idea grew on him.
Thornbury joined the RAF 10 years ago when he was 18. His dayto-day job covers anything that’s explosives and weapons-related. His dual UK/New Zealand citizenship makes him eligible for the Brits, but he wanted to compete for New Zealand.
Thornbury was born in Australia, but his Kiwi parents moved back home when he was one and he went to school in Wellington and Queenstown, where he first grew to love snow. He moved to the UK when he was 11.
While most would hesitate throwing themselves ‘‘head first’’ on a skeleton sled down the ice at speeds of over 130kmh, Thornbury’s work means he can be in danger at any given moment.
‘‘I’m probably more nervous handling explosives. I’m trained in both but never scared when I’m on the sled unless things have gone majorly wrong. Then it’s probably more scary on a skeleton sled. The unique thing about skeleton racing is that it’s not like anything else you can try or do. The position you lie in is very strange and scary at first. The pressures and speed your body gets put through are also very unique to skeleton and sliding sports.
‘‘No matter what your athletic background I think skeleton is a skill all in its own and some people are great at it and some aren’t. You can’t really pick an athlete and say they will be good or they won’t. You have to slide to know, which I think is pretty cool.’’
He first tried skeleton in Austria in 2011, making the World Cup circuit in 2015. He has gone on to achieve multiple top-10 results, including at the Olympic test event in Pyeongchang in March last year. Thornbury was also 11th at the 2017 world championships in Germany. His record speed is 144kmh, recorded at the Whistler track in Canada.
Thornbury started sport chasing the oval rugby ball but said he would like to see skelton gain momentum in New Zealand.
‘‘I’ve played rugby all my life and it requires a similar combination of speed and power to skeleton. New Zealand could definitely have an incredible skeleton team if we had the money to tempt the All Blacks off the pitch.’’
When he lines up for a race he is a little scared and a whole lot excited.
‘‘When I’m standing on the line I have a body full of excitement and nerves which I’m trying to harness. I’m thinking about pushing the sled. Thinking about my technical points I need to nail in the push and then some of the driving points down the track.
‘‘Just the push really and when I get on the sled my mind goes to sliding. I’m just looking down the icy hill excited and waiting for that light to go green so I can do my thing.’’
Skeleton was on the Olympic programme in St Moritz, Switzerland, in 1928 and again in 1948. It was added permanently for the 2002 Winter Olympics, when a women’s race was added.
Just one year ago for the world cup so he slid on the exact track he will race on Tuesday, February 13. He has been training in Calgary to prepare for the big event and will have two ‘‘sliding days’’ this week and next before cracking in to the main course.
The confident athlete wants a top-10 finish, after finishing 10th at the test event last season.