MORE on the ZIMBABWE SKIER! A GREAT VIDEO on BBC to WATCH!

I found several interesting articles on the Zimbabwe skier – Luke Steyn.

Here is the Yahoo Sports post on Luke Steyn, who is competing for the African nation in the Giant Slalom and Slalon events.

”He might not get a gold, but there’s plenty of time,” Kevin Atkinson, the head of the Zimbabwe Snow Sports Association, told The Associated Press. ”It’s great experience and a fantastic achievement to represent our country at the Winter Games.”

Alongside Steyn’s personal story, it’s also remarkable that Zimbabwe has a snow sports organization. Snow has fallen in the country once, records indicate, more than 50 years ago when a freak light dusting settled in a central region in 1960.

I wonder if the snow sports organization would ponder curling!  But this is exciting – new nations in the Winter Games.  Here is the BBC article with a nice video of the Zimbabwe skier.  Turns out I have to update the previous post:  Cameroon is not at the Sochi Games.

Zimbabwe, Togo and Morocco will be represented at the games.

When 20-year-old Zimbabwean Luke Steyn – who will compete in the slalom and giant slalom disciplines – passed through London on his way to Russia, BBC Africa’s Peter Okwoche asked him how he got into skiing.

And here is an article from a Zimbabwe newspaper that appears to be a duplicate of the first one cited.  Here’s another article before Steyn qualified for the Games.

“At the moment on giant slalom I am on 70 points and slalom I am on 120 points and for the qualification for Sochi I understand you need five results in each of those disciplines under 140 points and as far as I know, I have already qualified for giant slalom and then for slalom I am yet to qualify. I just have to get three more results under 140 and that shouldn’t be a problem for me,” said Steyn.

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Steyn acknowledged the Zimbabwe Olympic Committee for awarding him the Olympic Scholarship which was effective from July 1 this year to February next year, and said it has helped a lot since he currently does not have a sponsor.

No sports imperialism here!

We will see the athletes from Africa and other nations Friday night.  I love the Opening Ceremonies; everybody’s equal and this is the time for all the athletes (even the pro hockey players) to have that bit of honor and recognition.  I’d love to see the upset and Steyn win some sort of medal.