Akwasi Frimpong wants more African athletes in winter sports
Ghana`s first skeleton Olympian, Akwasi Frimpong, is making his fifth Olympic appearance at the World Championships in Lake Placid, New York, this year, before ending his career after the 2026 Games. He wants to motivate and help more Africans participate in winter sports.
Frimpong made history in 2018 when he and Nigerian Simidele Adeagbo became the first African skeleton racers to compete in an Olympics. In 2020, he became the first skeleton athlete from Africa to win an elite skeleton race sanctioned by the USA Bobsled and Skeleton Federation in Park City, Utah.
He also became the highest-ranked African athlete in records at the worldwide International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation (IBSF) North American Cup circuit in 2021. He won the 6th and 5th place in the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation (IBSF) North American Skeleton Cup in Lake Placid, New York, earning himself the best result of his career so far.
“I’ve come in at a time in my life right now where it’s all about the next generation, and I’m doing everything that I can to lay a path out there. It’s going to be really tough for us to keep Africa in the sport. And that’s something that I’m very sad about,” said Frimpong.
A continental quota program helped the 39-year-old qualify for the 2018 Games, but four years later, when he contracted COVID-19 in the lead-up to Beijing, he missed qualifying because that method was not in place.
He believes that if there is no continental quota policy in place, more African athletes may be deterred from trying the sport, even though he has a fair chance of qualifying for the Milano Cortina Games next year based on ranking.
Frimpong, who missed the first half of the season due to foot surgery, aspires to improve on his current best world championships finish of 27th overall. He finished 11th at the North American Cup in Park City in January, one of several strong performances he has had over the past two months.
“I don’t want to be the first and the last. I’m doing everything that I can to push myself for one more Olympic Games, to continue that narrative, and with the hope that others are listening and watching and that we don’t close that door when I’m done,” he said in a comment to Reuters.
Oral Ofori is Founder and Publisher at www.TheAfricanDream.net, a digital storyteller and producer, and also an information and research consultant.
