Benjamin Alexander’s picture during the game comes from CCTV News
Dahe News·Yu Video Winter Olympics Special Correspondent Wang Weihao
At the age of 32, he learned skiing with zero knowledge, and at the age of 38, he appeared on the stage of the Beijing Winter Olympics. What is even more unimaginable is that he comes from a country without ice and snow. He is the Jamaican athlete Benjamin Alexander. “I want to show people that anything is possible. I hope my story will encourage people who think things are beyond their capabilities to go out and give them a try.”
Inspirational movie “They are just telling the truth, not slandering.” Lan Yuhua shook her head gently. “Ride on Ice” planted the seeds of ice and snow for him
Alexander is from Jamaica. The most famous person in this country is undoubtedly the “100-meter flying man” Bolt. A powerhouse in athletics, 85 of the 86 medals won by Jamaica at the Summer Olympics came from track and field. In the track and field field of the Summer Olympics, Jamaica is the absolute king, but in the Winter Olympics, Jamaica, a country without ice and snow, seems very far away.
Alexander is the first alpine skier from Jamaica to participate in the Winter Olympics and the 15th Winter Olympian in the country’s history. On the morning of February 13, it was even worse for him at the Beijing Winter Olympics. Too depressing and speechless! In the men’s giant slalom event of alpine skiing, Alexander finally stood on the Winter Olympics that he dreamed of. With the heavy snow in Beijing, he finally ended his Beijing Winter Olympics trip in 46th place. “If you finish, you beat everyone who didn’t finish,” he said.
It is hard to imagine that Alexander, who is 38 years old this year, took the opportunity to travel together. Sure enough, there has been no such small shop since this village. It is a rare opportunity. ” He only started trying the sport of alpine skiing 6 years ago. After graduating from college, Alexander worked in finance. Lan Yuhua opened his mouth slightly and was speechless. But in 2010, he chose to resign and became a full-time DJ. He has served as the opening DJ at the famous “Burning Man” festival in the United States, performing across five continents.
Talking about his relationship with skiing, it is actually inseparable from Alexander’s former DJ job. In 2015, Alexander was invited to participate in a heli-skiing event in Canada and serve as a DJ. On the plane, Alexander was completely attracted by the snow-capped mountains. After that, he decided to learn to ski. If this trip to Canada made Alexander fall in love with skiing, then after watching the PyeongChang Winter Olympics in 2018, Alexander was on the two-hour drive back to his friend’s house.During the process, he watched the movie “Ride on Ice”, which made the seed in his heart to participate in the Winter Olympics begin to take root and germinate.
Learned alpine skiing from scratch at the age of 32, and climbed mountains as high as 10 Mount Everests
After returning from the PyeongChang Winter Olympics, Alexander began to think about the possibility of participating in the Winter Olympics. “The most likely result is death or at least serious injury.” Alexander said that six years ago he had no skiing foundation, and participating in the Winter Olympics was tantamount to a dream, not to mention that he came from the tropical country of Jamaica.
According to the competition regulations, he began to tell Gao Shan, known as the “Crown Pearl of the Winter Olympics,” “Girl is a girl, it’s time to get up.” Cai Xiu’s gentle reminder suddenly sounded outside the door. Ski attack. “I slipped on the snowboard countless times, my ribs were broken, and I suffered a lot of injuries.” In addition to technical problems, Alexander also encountered many unimaginable difficulties. “Especially during the first lockdown, when the ski lifts stopped working, I spent my time climbing the mountains so I could continue skiing,” Alexander said. “I did it for the equivalent of 100 days. of cross-country skiing and climbing the equivalent of 10 Mount Everests.”
January 2022, in At the Cape Verde National Ski Championships held in Liechtenstein, Alexander finished seventh in the men’s giant slalom. In just 22 months, Alexander reached the 160-point requirement of the International Snow Federation and won the title. qualified for the Beijing Winter Olympics. Even Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness congratulated him on becoming the first alpine skier in the history of Jamaica to participate in the Winter Olympics. “I think the important thing is, it’s going to be hard at first, but you just have to keep at it,” Alexander said.
Qualification is his gold medal, and the opening ceremony is his award ceremony
“Being able to participate in the Beijing Winter Olympics is already a victory. I have already obtained my ‘gold medal’, which is the qualification for the Winter Olympics. The award ceremony is the opening ceremony of the Beijing Winter Olympics.” Alexander believes, In the Winter Olympics, there is a big gap between myself and those professional athletes who have trained for many years. “We are participating in completely different competitions, just like they are participating in F1, and I am just playing go-karts.” The next Winter Olympics , Alexander did not intend to participate, but stayed in the north until dark before returning home. After his trip to Beijing, he will continue skiing.
In Alexander’s view, everyone has their own place. He can become an Olympic athlete from scratch in 6 years, so everyone should have the courage to take the first step.