No snow but Ethiopia's ski hope is on a roll
February 7, 2010 | By Barry Malone
Robel Teklemariam went to the Turin Winter Olympics four years ago
and came 84th out of about 100 cross-country skiers. Now the man
whose dreadlocks and bright outfits drew stares in Italy has qualified
for the Winter Games again.
"If I'm closer to the winner than I was at the last Olympics then I'll be
very happy," Robel said, sweating in the blazing sun after the workout.
"But my real goal now is to get Ethiopians involved in skiing. I don't
want to be the first and the last."
Robel has set up a website looking for Ethiopians who may be skiing
abroad and are interested in representing their country in competition to
contact him.
"For me the greatest thing in the world would be that I don't qualify for
the next Olympics because there's another Ethiopian who's faster than
me," he said.
When he was eight, Robel's mother, who worked for the United
Nations, was transferred to New York and the Ethiopian boy without a
word of English found himself in boarding school in upstate New York,
surrounded by snow.
"I had a major culture shock," he said. "But skiing was a very big part
of the life and culture at the school. So you had no choice. You were on
snow."
The child from a country famous for producing world-beating runners
like Haile Gebrselassie and Kenenisa Bekele soon found he had talent on
the snow.
One day somebody at school joked he should represent Ethiopia at the
Olympics.
"That's when it started getting in my head," said Robel. "But when I
really took it seriously to the point I knew I had to do it and there was
no choice was when I saw the Kenyans ski in the Nagano Olympics in
Japan."
MOVED BACK
Robel then approached the Ethiopian Olympic committee who pointed
out that there was no Ethiopian ski team. So the fledgling Olympian
created an Ethiopian ski association from scratch, drawing up byelaws
and finding sponsorship.
His family members now part-time staff the organization.
The 35-year-old moved back to Ethiopia four years ago and, although
he works as a ski instructor around the world, he knew he had to find a
place to train at home.
"I found this street that had just the right elevation and not too much
traffic," said Robel, gesturing to the suburban road that he roller skis up
and down six days a week.
"Roller skiing this close to the Olympics is not the ideal thing. Obviously
it's much better to be on snow. The one good thing is that in Ethiopia
we're at 2700 meters so that helps to give you better endurance."
With his long dreadlocks, ultra high-tech gear and white wrap-around
shades, Robel attracts plenty of stares.
"I was here training a little over a week ago and a security guard from
one of the houses came out and said 'Isn't it better to do that on
snow?'" he laughed.
Robel puts back on his sunglasses and, using his ski poles, pushes off
and glides down the sun-drenched hill again, dodging three cars on his
way down.
Two men stop him and ask what he's doing. Robel says that he's
training for the winter Olympics in Vancouver. "Oh, are you on the
Ethiopian ski team?" one asks.
"You're looking at the Ethiopian ski team," replies Robel.
(Editing by George Obulutsa and Jon Bramley)
Courtesy
February 7, 2010 | By Barry Malone
- ADDIS ABABA
(Reuters) -
Ethiopia's only
Olympic skier
wheels down a
suburban Addis
Ababa street on
his roller skis,
expertly
weaving
around six
donkeys and
Robel Teklemariam went to the Turin Winter Olympics four years ago
and came 84th out of about 100 cross-country skiers. Now the man
whose dreadlocks and bright outfits drew stares in Italy has qualified
for the Winter Games again.
"If I'm closer to the winner than I was at the last Olympics then I'll be
very happy," Robel said, sweating in the blazing sun after the workout.
"But my real goal now is to get Ethiopians involved in skiing. I don't
want to be the first and the last."
Robel has set up a website looking for Ethiopians who may be skiing
abroad and are interested in representing their country in competition to
contact him.
"For me the greatest thing in the world would be that I don't qualify for
the next Olympics because there's another Ethiopian who's faster than
me," he said.
When he was eight, Robel's mother, who worked for the United
Nations, was transferred to New York and the Ethiopian boy without a
word of English found himself in boarding school in upstate New York,
surrounded by snow.
"I had a major culture shock," he said. "But skiing was a very big part
of the life and culture at the school. So you had no choice. You were on
snow."
The child from a country famous for producing world-beating runners
like Haile Gebrselassie and Kenenisa Bekele soon found he had talent on
the snow.
One day somebody at school joked he should represent Ethiopia at the
Olympics.
"That's when it started getting in my head," said Robel. "But when I
really took it seriously to the point I knew I had to do it and there was
no choice was when I saw the Kenyans ski in the Nagano Olympics in
Japan."
MOVED BACK
Robel then approached the Ethiopian Olympic committee who pointed
out that there was no Ethiopian ski team. So the fledgling Olympian
created an Ethiopian ski association from scratch, drawing up byelaws
and finding sponsorship.
His family members now part-time staff the organization.
The 35-year-old moved back to Ethiopia four years ago and, although
he works as a ski instructor around the world, he knew he had to find a
place to train at home.
"I found this street that had just the right elevation and not too much
traffic," said Robel, gesturing to the suburban road that he roller skis up
and down six days a week.
"Roller skiing this close to the Olympics is not the ideal thing. Obviously
it's much better to be on snow. The one good thing is that in Ethiopia
we're at 2700 meters so that helps to give you better endurance."
With his long dreadlocks, ultra high-tech gear and white wrap-around
shades, Robel attracts plenty of stares.
"I was here training a little over a week ago and a security guard from
one of the houses came out and said 'Isn't it better to do that on
snow?'" he laughed.
Robel puts back on his sunglasses and, using his ski poles, pushes off
and glides down the sun-drenched hill again, dodging three cars on his
way down.
Two men stop him and ask what he's doing. Robel says that he's
training for the winter Olympics in Vancouver. "Oh, are you on the
Ethiopian ski team?" one asks.
"You're looking at the Ethiopian ski team," replies Robel.
(Editing by George Obulutsa and Jon Bramley)
Courtesy
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