Kwame Ready To Race

Kwame Nkrumah-Acheampong, now known as the Snow Leopard, who started skiing just over five years ago at Milton Keynes SNO!zone in England, has qualified for the 2010 Olympic Winter Games and will be representing Ghana in the men's slalom event Whistler on February 27.

After years of struggling for support to continue training and to make it to FIS competitions around the world, sleeping in airports and using borrowed gear, Kwame is now a star of the Olympics and has been featured in national news publications in more than 100 countries worldwide.

In Whistler, the resort's publicity department report that he has developed a bond with the Host Mountain Resort for the 2010 Winter Games where he's close to realizing his Olympic dream. Tourism Whistler worked with the Canadian Tourism Commission, as part of its Connecting with Canadians program, to bring Kwame to Whistler last July - providing him with the opportunity to get familiar with the resort and meet locals who would soon become his biggest fans.

"Kwame was able to visit the alpine venue, experience summer skiing on Whistler's Horstman Glacier and, with his family, he also enjoyed riding the PEAK 2 PEAK Gondola between Whistler and Blackcomb mountains, ziplining in Whistler's temperate rainforest, cycling the Valley Trail, canoeing on Alta Lake, and visiting the Squamish Lil'wat Cultural Centre." said a resort statement.

"Kwame is a talented athlete with a natural gift that could allow him to do well at a number of sports. It's our good fortune that he chose skiing, because he's quickly becoming one of the most popular figures in the 2010 Winter Games here in Whistler," says Breton Murphy, manager of destination media relations at Tourism Whistler. "Whistler is a place where skiers of his ability get a lot of respect for what they are able to do on the slopes, and Kwame is no exception to that."

As Murphy notes, not since the Jamaican bobsleigh team took the 1988 Calgary Winter Olympics by storm has there been such a stir of excitement around an unlikely competitor. Born in the UK, Kwame is one of only a few Africans on the World Cup skiing circuit and has spent nearly all his life in Ghana. He returned to the UK in 2000 and began skiing after taking a job at the Milton Keynes SNO!zoine soon after it opoened, soon becoming skilled enough to compete internationally.

Now, with the 2010 Winter Games underway in Whistler and all the events and celebrations taking place throughout the resort, Kwame's story continues to stand out as a testament of the Olympic spirit. "People like Kwame, who have overcome obstacles that most of us couldn't begin to imagine, are part of the reason that the Winter Games are so motivating to people. Here's a guy with a family who trains hard, skis hard, and supports charities that work in underdeveloped areas in Ghana. Whistler is proud to host such an inspirational athlete at the 2010 Winter Games," says Murphy.
cS24

www.ghanaskiteam.com

He has a facebook group Kwames Army, if anyone is interested.

Thanks, I've joined the group. I'm on his Facebook Friends list as well, but his Profile page seems to have had Limited Profile lists applied to it, so there is very little to see now, all the action is on Army page!

Admin Just to correct your write up, Kwame is not on the World Cup circuit. He has never competed in a World Cup race or any of the 'B' tour Continental cup races. Only done some lower level FIS races to get the FIS point required to get to the Olympics. He is world ranked around 4900 in the Slalom which he qualified in.
GB has 39 male Junior (U20) skiers who are higher in the world rankings in slalom. None of those are going to the Olympics.

AB, I can't quite seem to locate the paragraphs in the original post which state that Kwame is on the World Cup circuit, or competes in World Cup races. Perhaps you could highlight them for us?

AB wrote:Admin Just to correct your write up, Kwame is not on the World Cup circuit. He has never competed in a World Cup race or any of the 'B' tour Continental cup races. Only done some lower level FIS races to get the FIS point required to get to the Olympics. He is world ranked around 4900 in the Slalom which he qualified in.
GB has 39 male Junior (U20) skiers who are higher in the world rankings in slalom. None of those are going to the Olympics.

That's not the point of the Olympics.
It's about every nation sending their finest to represent them.

It's far more important to have a Kwame or an Eddie the Eagle than simply the best 80 in the world.

We all know that in each event there are probably only 10 or so who could win and perhaps 20 who could medal. If we take that to it's logical conclusion only the world's top 20 should be permitted to enter.
Some events like the Luge could become the German championships.

Supporting Kwame is supporting the spirit of the Olympics which I think was seriously undermined by the response to Eddie Edwards.

andymol2 wrote:

AB wrote:Admin Just to correct your write up, Kwame is not on the World Cup circuit. He has never competed in a World Cup race or any of the 'B' tour Continental cup races. Only done some lower level FIS races to get the FIS point required to get to the Olympics. He is world ranked around 4900 in the Slalom which he qualified in.
GB has 39 male Junior (U20) skiers who are higher in the world rankings in slalom. None of those are going to the Olympics.

That's not the point of the Olympics.
It's about every nation sending their finest to represent them.

It's far more important to have a Kwame or an Eddie the Eagle than simply the best 80 in the world.

We all know that in each event there are probably only 10 or so who could win and perhaps 20 who could medal. If we take that to it's logical conclusion only the world's top 20 should be permitted to enter.
Some events like the Luge could become the German championships.

Supporting Kwame is supporting the spirit of the Olympics which I think was seriously undermined by the response to Eddie Edwards.

Well said and I see you've already been 5 starred for that comment!

"As Murphy notes, not since the Jamaican bobsleigh team took the 1988 Calgary Winter Olympics by storm has there been such a stir of excitement around an unlikely competitor. Born in the UK, Kwame is one of only a few Africans on the World Cup skiing circuit and has spent nearly all his life in Ghana. He returned to the UK in 2000 and began skiing after taking a job at the Milton Keynes SNO!zoine soon after it opoened, soon becoming skilled enough to compete internationally."

There is the spirit of the Olympics I agree. But take the Cayman Islands skier who is competing. A young British lad from an extremely wealthy family who didn't make the grade in the British children's ranks, father fell out with SSGB and so he set up the Cayman Islands ski federation so his son could compete at international levels for them. Is his the same olympic spirit?

Just trying to make the point that you don't have to be very good to be at the Olympics if you are from certain nations.
I actually like to see the very best in the world compete against each other.