Alpine skier Carlos Mäder is set to be Ghana’s sole representative at the Winter Olympics here after a positive COVID-19 test dashed skeleton racer Akwasi Frimpong’s hopes of qualifying for a second successive Games.
Mäder will become the third athlete to represent the African nation at the Winter Olympics after Alpine skier Kwame Nkrumah-Acheampong at Vancouver 2010 and Frimpong at Pyeonchang 2018.
The 43-year-old is set to carry his country’s flag at the Opening Ceremony, scheduled to be held on Friday (February 4) before competing in the men’s giant slalom.
“So proud to start for Ghana at the Olympic giant slalom and so honoured to carry the flag at the Opening Ceremony,” Mäder wrote on Instagram.
“Was a long, hard but exciting journey over the past four-five years – very thankful that I could make all these amazing experiences and friendships for life, ‘big thanks’ to everybody that supported me on this way.”
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Mäder was born in Ghana in 1978 but was put for adoption by his single-mother as a youngster as she could not afford to feed him.
He was adopted by a Swiss family and grew up there.
Mäder has, however, maintained contact with his birth mother throughout his life and regularly visited the land of his birth.
He has been skiing since he was three and was also a talented footballer, representing the youth side of FC Lucerne.
Mäder had set his sights in 2017 of qualifying to represent Ghana at the Winter Olympic Games and narrowly missed out on earning a place at Pyeongchang 2018.
Frimpong was due to compete a series of races in Germany last month to boost his chances of qualification only to test positive for COVID-19.
His coaches Brian McDonald and Zach Lund called on the International Olympic Committee and the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation to reinstate continental quota places for Beijing 2022, but their last-ditch efforts were rejected.
The Ghana Olympic Committee (GOC) has revealed that a new kit will be delivered to the Athletes’ Village in the Chinese capital for the Ghanian delegation to wear.
According to the GOC, President Ben Nunoo Mensah has clinched a kit sponsorship “through his business partners in China”.
Source : insidethegames.biz
