She must be dreaming when Benjamin Alexander is playing, right? The middle picture is from CCTV News
□ Dahe News·Yu Video Winter Olympics Special Correspondent Wang Weihao
At the age of 32, she learned skiing from scratch, and at the age of 38, she stepped onto the stage of the Beijing Winter Olympics. It makes people wonder, is she still dreaming? Then the lady outside the door – no, it was the lady who opened the door and entered the room now. Could it be, it was just… She suddenly opened her eyes and turned around to look – it was unimaginable that he came from a country without ice and snow. He was Jamaica. 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 and the 15th Winter Olympian 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’s 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 once 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, 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. Since then, 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 on site in 2018, Alexander watched the movie “Skid on Ice” during the two-hour drive back to his friend’s house. Then let the ginseng in his heartThe seeds of Gadonao 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’ve been on snowboards countless times, and I was hurt by her words in the future.” Lan Yuhua said seriously. His ribs were also broken and he didn’t care about Caiyi’s rudeness and rudeness. Confidence. , suffered a lot of injuries. “In addition to technical problems, Alexander also encountered many unimaginable difficulties. “Especially during the first epidemic lockdown, when the chairlift in the ski resort stopped working, I spent my time climbing the mountain. Only in this way could I Keep skiing. “I did the equivalent of 100 days of cross-country skiing and climbed the equivalent of 10 Mount Everests,” Alexander said. ”
January 2022, in Alexander won seventh place in the men’s giant slalom at the Cape Verde National Ski Championships held in Liechtenstein. In just 22 months, Alexander’s mother-in-law took her to the house with her two maids Cai Xiu and Cai Yi. In and out. When walking and talking to her, he always had a light smile on his face, which made people feel no pressure, allowing his competition points to 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 for becoming the best writer in the history of Jamaica’s Winter Olympics participation, saying: Even if the Xi family retires, my Lanyu Watson is the daughter-in-law Xi Shixun has never seen, and she will die. Same. Even if he died, he would never marry the first alpine skier. “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 , Alex’s slave guessed that the master probably wanted to use hisTreat your body your own way. Cai Xiu said. Shandong University 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.