Family unite for Olympic brother
Johnny Rice, second from left, and younger brother Dom Rice, third from left, take a break from touring Seoul at Fat Albert’s in Itaewon, Monday. / Courtesy of John Redmond.
By John Redmond
Family and friends of British skeleton athlete Jerry Rice visited Seoul as part of a tour culminating in a visit to PyeongChang yesterday.
Rice, a member of the British Bobsleigh and Skeleton Association (BBSA), is set to compete in the men’s skeleton early next week.
After spending a gap year working as a tower boy at a ski run in St. Moritz, Switzerland the birthplace of bobsleigh and skeleton, Rice was drafted into the BBSA in 2012.
With six blood relatives and eight family friends, the group is determined to give the athlete its full support.
“We are proud of him, so happy for him,” older brother Johnny Rice said.
“It’s been a bit of a roller coaster ride getting here. He’s had some great performances, and ones where he feels he could have done better but he deserves this, having trained daily for five years.”
Training includes dieting as well as a strict physical fitness program.
The Rice family and friends are also known as the “Rice Pudding Fan Club.”
Skeleton is a winter sliding sport in which athletes ride a small sled, known as a skeleton bobsled, down a frozen track while lying face down (prone).
Unlike other sliding sports such as bobsleigh and luge, the race always involves single riders. The name of the sport (and the sled) comes from the bony appearance of the sled.
Skeleton became an Olympic sport in 2002.