The Snow Leopard is not Eddie the Eagle. Fans fell for Michael Edwards at the 1988 Calgary Games, cheering for the first British man to compete in Olympic ski jumping despite – or, probably, because of – his lack of experience and ability, and his last-place finish. “I am not, and will not end up being, an Eddie the Eagle at the end of the day,” said Kwame Nkrumah-Acheampong, a skier from that winter sports hotbed of Ghana. “Because, to me, sports is a serious thing.” Nkrumah-Acheampong is the West African nation’s first Winter Olympian. Nicknamed “The Snow Leopard,” he skis in a leopard-print racing suit. He’s been in the sport for only about five years, and much of his training is done at an indoor ski hill about an hour north of London. “It is like crossing the Sahara desert and getting to the end and getting a very cold drink and a lovely cold shower,” he said of making the Olympics. “You think about, ‘Wow, did I make that journey?’ ”
An AP story outlines all the stories that will have people talking come next week during the Vancouver Olympics, but highlighted here is the part about Ghana’s first Winter Olympian. Very cool!
The Snow Leopard is not Eddie the Eagle.
Fans fell for Michael Edwards at the 1988 Calgary Games, cheering for the first British man to compete in Olympic ski jumping despite – or, probably, because of – his lack of experience and ability, and his last-place finish.
“I am not, and will not end up being, an Eddie the Eagle at the end of the day,” said Kwame Nkrumah-Acheampong, a skier from that winter sports hotbed of Ghana. “Because, to me, sports is a serious thing.”
Nkrumah-Acheampong is the West African nation’s first Winter Olympian.
Nicknamed “The Snow Leopard,” he skis in a leopard-print racing suit. He’s been in the sport for only about five years, and much of his training is done at an indoor ski hill about an hour north of London.
“It is like crossing the Sahara desert and getting to the end and getting a very cold drink and a lovely cold shower,” he said of making the Olympics. “You think about, ‘Wow, did I make that journey?’ ”
Chelsi Moy
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