ROSSENDALE skeleton bob star Kristan Bromley slid his way to a silver medal in the opening round of the World Cup in Calgary.

Waterfoot-born Bromley, known as Dr Ice, raced his way to second spot just seven weeks after becoming a father.

And he was only 4/100ths of a second off beating Canadian Paul Boehm, who was racing on his home track.

Now he's looking to take gold in the next round in Park City next week.

Bromley said: "It's been a hard few weeks, but that result proves the work with my training and the new sled is paying off.

"My girlfriend Shelley and I are determined to be in the best position for the Olympics."

Bromley's technology team F1-ice, based at Sheffield Hallam University, has been trying to develop the world's fastest sled for the Vancouver Winter Olympics in 2010.

So his silver medal was a great first milestone for the F1-ice works team, which also develops the sled technology for Shelley Rudman - partner of Kristan, who will be returning to the ice in January since the birth of their first child Ella-Marie.