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Craig Thompson missed out on a medal at the 2023 Skeleton World Championships by just a second
Britain’s Craig Thompson says he has “nothing to prove” at this year’s world championships after missing out on a medal in the 2023 skeleton by a tenth of a second.
Thompson finished fourth at last year’s competition, missing out on the bronze medal by one-hundredth of a second.
He will compete in this year’s heat starting Friday in Winterberg, Germany.
“It was really sad to miss out on a medal by just one-hundredth of a second,” Thompson said.
“I feel terrible, but I feel like I have nothing to prove.
“I believe in my own performance, the coaching staff around me, the team around me. If everything goes well and I can skate as well as I can, I don’t see why I can’t bring home a medal this year.” It’s within reach.
“I hope to be on the right side of the clock this year.”
Thompson, from Swindon, won his first medal at the World Championships in January last year when he won bronze alongside Brogan Crawley in the mixed skeleton.
This season, the 31-year-old has finished fourth and fifth in two World Cups, joining three other top-10 players.
“It’s been a pretty up-and-down season so far, some decent results and some pretty crappy results. Overall it’s been good,” he told BBC Radio Wiltshire.
Thompson, who is ranked ninth in the world, is working with a sports psychologist ahead of the 2026 Winter Olympics, which he said has had a positive impact on his performance.
“The way I approach race day, not putting as much pressure on myself as I usually do, and treating each race as a fast training session, that kind of thing really helps,” Thompson said.
“After going through that process, it was a big turning point for me to realize that my performance was on track.
“It also helped that I had a really good, solid team around me. The three men competing in this year’s World Championships are skating really well and working together really well as a group. are doing.”
“Add to that the coaching and now we have good equipment, so everything seems to be in the right place for the Olympics in two years.”