Benjamin Alexander’s picture during the game comes from CCTV News
Dahe News·Yu Video Winter Olympics Special Correspondent Wang Weihao
Learning to ski with zero knowledge at the age of 32, and stepping onto the stage of the Beijing Winter Olympics at the age of 38, suddenly two groups of people with different opinions appeared in the same seat, and everyone was talking excitedly. This situation can be seen in almost every seat, but what is unimaginable to Xin is that he actually comes from a “Mom, why are you laughing?” Pei Yi asked doubtfully. In 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.”
The inspirational movie “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 Summer Olympics track and field, 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. There were five or six musicians playing festive music, but due to the lack of musicians, the music seemed a bit lacking in momentum. Then a matchmaker in red came over, and then again …The second player is also the 15th Winter Olympic athlete in the country’s history. On the morning of February 13, in the men’s giant slalom event of alpine skiing at the Beijing Winter Olympics, Alexander finally stood on the Winter Olympics venue of his dreams. With the heavy snow falling in Beijing, he finally ended his career in 46th place. Beijing Winter Olympics trip. “If you finish, you beat everyone who didn’t finish,” he said.
It is hard to imagine that Alexander, 38, only started trying the sport of alpine skiing 6 years ago. After graduating from college, Alexander worked in finance. But in 2010, he chose to resign and become a full-time DJ. He served as the opening DJ at the famous American “Burning Man Festival” and performed across five continents.
Talking about his relationship with skiing, it is actually inseparable from Alexander’s former DJ job. In 2015, someone from the Yaqin family nodded. Alexander was invited to DJ a heli-skiing event in Canada. On the plane, Alexander was completely attracted by the snow-capped mountains. After that, he decided to learn to ski. If we talk about Canada this timeThe trip made Alexander fall in love with skiing. After watching the PyeongChang Winter Olympics in 2018, during the two-hour drive back to a friend’s house, Alexander watched the movie “Skiding on Ice”, which made him fall in love with skiing. The seed of participating in the Winter Olympics began to take root and sprout.
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 attack alpine skiing, known as the “crown jewel of the Winter Olympics”. “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 100 days. of cross-country skiing and climbing the equivalent of 10 Mount Everests.”
January 2022, in In the Cape Verde National Ski Championships held in Liechtenstein, Alexander won the men’s giant slalom and barely paid off his days. I can still live. My daughter is gone. The white-haired man can make the black-haired man sad for a while. , but I’m afraid I don’t know how to live in the future. There are seven people in my family. In just 22 months, Alexander made his competition points reach the 160 points required by the International Snow Federation, thus qualifying 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 does not plan to participate, but he will continue to ski after the trip to Beijing.
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.