Kwame - the epitome of the dream?
I always wanted to go to an Olympics. Not as a spectator but as an athlete. Sadly I was always a mile off being good enough at my chosen sport of hockey to make it.
That was mainly down to a lack of talent but it was also likely to have been affected by the way I was nurtured as a sporting wannabee, or not nurtured as the case may be. I didn't start playing until I was 12, didn't join a club team until I was in my late teens and was part of quite a cliquey county set-up.
So all these years later (I'm not bitter) I have settled for working at the Games as a journalist which, let's face it, isn't a bad lot. But there are some people who just don't accept they might not quite have the right training/background/money/facilities and somehow they do make it.
One of those sporting miracles is the 35-year-old Ghanaian slalom skier Kwame Nkrumah-Acheampong, aka the Snow Leopard.
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He is here competing for his country at the Winter Olympics, the pinnacle of sporting success, yet he's only been skiiing on and off for seven years.
He took it up because he was given free access to the Milton Keynes indoor ski slope where he worked as a receptionist. Nkrumah-Acheampong has a 'can do' attitude.
Born in Glasgow but raised in the snow-free country of Ghana in West Africa, Nkrumah-Acheampong moved back to Britain in his twenties, and at that point had never put on a pair of skis.
Now if that was you, would you choose to be an international ski racer? 99.9% of the universe would just have a bit of a go and then probably use skiiing as a gentle leisure activity. Not Kwame.
He practised and practised until he was good enough to think about taking it up as a sport professionally and now, a few years later, he's at the Olympics competing in the slalom. You can read a bit more about his background and how he qualified on Anna Thompson's earlier blog.
He's not exactly going to break any records, and he's more than likely going to finish in the bottom one or two, but he is here. His ambition for the race is just not to come last.
I spent half an hour on the slopes here in Whistler with Nkrumah-Acheampong. He wasn't particularly keen to be wearing his skis as he hates his boots, saying they are really uncomfortable (like all ski racing boots), but we wanted more shots of him skiiing so reluctantly he agreed.
I found him incredibly focused. Clearly he takes his skiing very seriously - Eddie the Eagle he ain't. He flatly refused to be considered an 'underdog', saying: "I prefer to call myself a middle dog."
He also had quite strong opions on the subject of Eddie the Eagle, saying the British messed up what might have been a legacy from the former Great Britain ski jumper's notorious fame which came in the wake of the last Winter Olympics to be held in Canada - in Calgary in 1988.
"After all the Eddie the Eagle publicity Britain should have a proper ski jump programme, but you don't. Why not?"
He may have a point - but I wanted to know what Nkrumah-Acheampong thought his own legacy would be. What did he want to achieve?
He has already set up a ski programme in Ghana with a grass slope for kids to try out and he has links with several charities. I think extending that legacy in Ghana is the most important thing for him here.
It certainly has not been an easy journey for him. Yes, here at the Olympics he's a bit of a celebrity (his manager told me he was mobbed in Vancouver!) but it was a different story during the season.
He had very little money to fund his racing and frequently stayed in his car overnight rather than pay for a hotel, sometimes when the temperatures were minus 15. He also relies on sponsors to make ends meet.
The epitome of the Olympic dream? I certainly hope he doesn't come last! Good luck Kwame...
~RS~q~RS~~RS~z~RS~17~RS~)
Blackcomb Mountain is where it's at for me at these Winter Olympics. I'm
following all the action from the skiiing, snowboarding and sliding
events as BBC Sport's reporter in Whistler.
Comments
Very inspiring story. I think Kwame's attitude and aspirations to achieve something irrespective of factors such as age, training, funding, etc. is exemplary and should be applauded.
I for one will be cheering him on come the slalom race!
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The standard of English in this article is pretty low - 'notorious fame'? Do you mean notoriety? Or just fame? The whole sentence is very ungrammatical and should have been rewritten - by a sub perhaps.
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More of the same old BBC PC tosh. Sooner hopefully than later the licence-payer will see sense and stop paying.
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Very inspiring as said. Good article. Can't believe some of the petty and mean spirited comments here though.
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