CITIUS, ALTIUS, FORTIUS
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 26/01/2010 (5973 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
IT was only a matter of time. First, somebody gave the Chinese some curling rocks and next thing you know they’re challenging for the world title.
Now they’ve discovered the half-pipe. Several Chinese teenage gymnasts set up shop a few years ago in Whistler, where they’ve been McTwisting ever since.
According to the Globe and Mail, the first thought of Canadian freestyle coach Tom Hutchinson was: "We’re in trouble."
Good premonition. In Vancouver, a 17-year-old named Liu Jiayu, the overall World Cup champion, is a gold-medal contender in just her second year on the circuit.
Our advice: Check Jiayu’s birth certificate. You know, just in case
For all you couch potatoes/Olympic fans out there, the Daily Planet (Discovery Channel) will be airing a series of shows in early February featuring some of Canada’s previously "secret" training methods that involve leading-edge technology, i.e., a slingshot used for training speedskaters, the science of the tuck in downhill and the kinesiology of a great slapshot.
Urged a Daily Planet press release: "Watch Canadian goaltender Kim St. Pierre use virtual reality to train her mind and reflexes to be as quick as a cat."
Hey, just don’t tell the Chinese. We don’t need the additional competition
But the Chinese aren’t the only newcomers to Olympic events. Meet Kwame Nkrumah-Acheampong, the first Ghanaian to qualify for a Winter Games.
Known as the "Snow Leopard" Nkrumah- Acheampong, born in Scotland, will be a one-man team in Vancouver.
The Leopard learned to ski on the Italian slopes, where he now trains. "It has taken me about four years, because I missed the (2006 Winter Olympics in Turin)," he told BBC News.
"So it’s been a tough journey, but I’m glad all the hard work has paid off. Some people were skeptical… But I think now I can stand up and say it’s possible."
Now that Nkrumah-Acheampong is about to go all Eddie the Eagle in Vancouver, here’s a hunch: The Ghanaian is about to get a cult following worldwide.
Noted the Snow Leopard: "I think now people are going to sit up and say, ‘OK, well, he’s done it this time; he’s qualified and definitely we are going to see the Ghanaian flag in Vancouver.’ "
Who knew?
randy.turner@freepress.mb.ca
