Most people you know can’t believe that you don’t need to live near snow to be able to ski.
The Jamaican bobsled team proved in 1988 that a country needn’t be covered in snow to participate in the Winter Olympic Games. Although the Jamaican bobsledders failed to qualify for the 2010 Games in Vancouver, several other athletes from countries situated in the tropics and near the equator will be representing their nations.
Robel Teklemariam will return to the Olympics for the second time, wearing his native Ethiopian colors on the cross-country ski course. In Italy 2006, he was the first-ever Ethiopian to represent his country in the Winter Olympics. Teklemariam’s passion for skiing developed at age 12 while his mother, who worked for the United Nations, was located in New York. The freedom of sliding along the snow around Lake Placid immediately captured his attention and he’s been in love with the sport ever since. While earning a medal would be a great achievement, Teklemariam’s greater goal is to establish Ethiopia as a player in the Winter Olympics.
“It’s for the future, you know? If there’s that young kid now that’s skiing and sees that an Ethiopian can possibly ski race in the future, maybe you know, that’s going to be the kid that’s going to bring the medal back to Ethiopia.”
Further north in the archipelago, Dow Travers will be the first Winter Olympian from the Canary Islands. The geographical high point of the islands is “The Bluff,” located 141 feet above sea level. And what’s Traver’s sport? Giant slalom. Travers came upon the sport through family trips to Beaver Creek, Colorado, and now, at age 22, he divides his time between playing rugby and searching for snow. Travers also has two younger brothers who are up-and-coming skiers, so the Canary Islands should be a competitor in the games for years to come.
As mentioned before, the Jamaican bobsled team will not be competing in Vancouver. But fear not, Jamaica’s presence will be known in the ski cross event. Errol Kerr currently lives and trains in the United States, but as an ode to his late Jamaican father, Kerr will be tearing down the course in green, yellow and black. With a long list of top ten finishes, Kerr shows a lot of potential while entering the games and could finally bring a Winter medal home to Jamaica.
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