Ghanas first professional skier has qualified to represent his country at the 2010 winter Olympics in Vancouver, Canada. According to the BBC, Kwame Nkrumah-Acheampong, also known as the snow leopard, started skiing about four years ago when he returned to the UK for his studies. To qualify as a competitor in the Olympics, a skier is expected to get his/her personal rating down to anything between 120-140. Skiers who finish close to winners get points deducted from their score until they have the lowest ratings to allow them a place in the competition. Kwame Nkrumah-Acheampong who made it to the 140 points required, started out with 1000 points. The Ghanaian skiier indicated that his chances of winning gold “are very far” but he hopes to prove to “people that, yes, I deserve to be on the hill with the other top class athletes”.
