Olympics – Alpine Skiing – Skiers in warmer climates enjoy the race as much as the experience | The mighty 790 KFGO

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By Simon Jennings and Shadia Nasralla

YANQING, China (Reuters) – In a sport dominated by Europeans and North Americans, the Olympic alpine giant slalom has a knack for attracting competitors known to the ski circuit as “the exotics”, hailing from countries with few or no tradition of winter sports.

Violinist Vanessa-Mae was a well-known example, competing for Thailand at the 2014 Sochi Games where she finished 67th.

This year, skiers representing Saudi Arabia, Cyprus, Timor Leste, India, Mexico, Jamaica, Ghana, Puerto Rico, Eritrea, Madagascar and Israel have all entered the Olympic giant slalom.

While some openly admitted their goal was to expand diversity or simply soak up the atmosphere of the Olympics, others had come because they wanted to compete.

“It was clear that I was going to get gas rather than be safe. I always want to go as fast as possible. For me, just going down is not an option; it’s not my DNA,” said Ghanaian Carlos Maeder, 43, one of 33 skiers who failed to complete the first stage of the men’s giant slalom on Sunday.

Maeder, who was adopted by a couple in Switzerland and said he could ski before he could walk, embraces the term “exotics”. “Ghana does not stop at borders,” he added.

Scholarships and personal wealth can help pay for the training and travel needed to qualify for the Olympics. Some runners put the cost of preparing for the Games at around $70,000.

“I’m still a one-man show. I never had like a federation on my back or like a personal trainer, so it was a lot of work,” Maeder said.

Fayik Abdi, Saudi Arabia’s first winter Olympian, learned to ski aged four while vacationing in Lebanon but started running less than a year ago. He said he was indifferent to being labeled as one of the “exotics”.

“It’s strange but it’s also true to who we are in the sport,” said Abdi, who came 44th of the 46th finalists. “We have to start raising children and the next generation from a very young age.”

Abdi, who has lived in Saudi Arabia, the United States and Europe, said that even if he didn’t finish but skied his best, it would be quite satisfying.

“The more diverse the sport or any sport can be, the better. This is the start not only for Saudi Arabia but for many nations and I hope that in the future we will see more countries and teams competing,” said Abdi.

Thailand’s Nicola Zanon, who finished 38th, 29.01 seconds behind Switzerland’s Marco Odermatt, winner of the giant slalom, acknowledged there was still a lot of work to be done for nations like his to move up the ante. the classification, but this finish was an important signal.

“I did a safe race because my federation wants to finish the race, that’s our goal,” he said.

Mexico’s Rodolfo Dickson Sommers, who finished 35th, said many of the “exotics” – a term he said correctly identified them as unique in the sport – could technically go faster than they often did in races.

“It’s good to cross the finish line,” he said with a laugh.

On the other side of the fence, giant slalom gold medalist Odermatt had a message of encouragement for his competitors from more tropical climates.

“It’s probably not that easy if you don’t have snow, but in the end if you have a dream, you just have to work for it, try everything and take what you get and do some your best in every situation”, Odermatt mentioned.

(Reporting by Shadia Nasralla; editing by Clare Fallon)

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