Dr Ice starts the mind games in quest for Olympic medal

From Sportsbeat staff, in Vancouver

 GREAT Britain's Kristan Bromley insists he is ready to pounce should his medal rivals slip up in Friday's final two runs - and Dr Ice fully expects them to melt under the pressure.

DR ICE: Kristan Bromley roared back into contention with his second run and is hoping his medal rivals crumble under the pressure (Getty Images)

Bromley blitzed his way back into medal contention with a storming second run at the Whistler Sliding Centre and after two of the four runs is just 0.05 seconds behind bronze medal position.

The 27-year-old's quest for an Olympic medal - the one accolade that eludes him having collected the World Cup, World Championship and European Championship titles in a decorated career - seemed doomed after a lacklustre first run.

Bromley, just as fiancée Shelley Rudman did in the women's competition, started sluggishly and was 0.59 down on leader Martins Dukurs of Latvia - the current World Cup champion who shattered the track record.

But Bromley, fifth in Turin four years ago, reeled in the leading pack in his second run and while second-placed Jon Montgomery of Canada and Dukurs look set to battle it out for gold, third-placed Russia's Alexander Tretyakov is firmly in his sights.

"I am pretty pumped at the moment and I had a really good second run compared to my first," said Bromley - who finished fifth four years ago in Turin.

I'm in the mix now and I just need to keep fighting away. "It's great to move up the table and be within grasp of a medal.

"Now it is all about being focused - it 's a real mental game now.

"It will all be on the final run tomorrow. When the pressure starts to build, people start to buckle, and I'm hoping to capitalise on that. Fingers crossed we can pull something out tomorrow.

"There are some young sliders in front of me who are prone to making mistakes and I am hoping that their inexperience and my experience will play into my hands."

Meanwhile, there was no such luck for fellow Brit Adam Pengilly, who finished 17th and 22nd in his two heats to lie 20th overnight.

The 32-year-old, like Amy Williams, is the current world silver medallist but while his female compatriot tops the women's leaderboard after two heats, Pengilly admitted he is well off the pace in Whistler.

"It was a disappointing day today. I need to collect my thoughts now and try to start again tomorrow," he said.

"I'm a long way off the pace, but hopefully I can show people I'm a better slider than the results suggest and should be higher up the field."

 AS IT HAPPENS: Day seven of the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver