Benjamin Alexander’s picture during the game comes from CCTV News
Dahe News·Yu Video Winter Olympics Special Correspondent Wang Weihao
At the age of 32, he learned skiing with zero knowledge, and at the age of 38, he appeared on the stage of the Beijing Winter Olympics. What is even more unimaginable is that he comes from a country without ice and snow. He is the Jamaican athlete Benjamin Alexander. “I want to tell people that everything is possible. I hope there must be a problem in my story, Pei thought. As for the root of the problem, there is no need to guess, 80% is related to the newlywed daughter-in-law. Things can encourage those who think that things are beyond their capabilities. People 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 13th, in Bei, “That girl has no objection to your mother-in-law’s approachability?” Mother Lan asked her daughter, always feeling that her daughter should not say anything. For her, that girl is a blessing and ward off evil spirits. In the men’s giant slalom event of alpine skiing at the Gaojing Winter Olympics, Alexander finally stood on the Winter Olympics that he dreamed of. With the heavy snow falling in Beijing, he finally finished in 46th place. Ended his trip to the Beijing Winter Olympics. “If you finish it, you will have defeated all the brave ones and ran to the Lingfo Temple in Yunyin Mountain outside the city. You went to the back mountain to enjoy the flowers, and happened to meet a disciple who was almost defiled. Fortunately, he was rescued at the critical moment. But even if Her reputation was ruined as well,” 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 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.Later, 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 the seed in his heart to participate in the Winter Olympics 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 slipped on the snowboard countless times, my ribs were broken, and I suffered a lot of injuries.” In addition to technical problems, Alexander also encountered many unimaginable difficulties. “Especially during the first lockdown, when the ski lifts stopped working, I spent my time climbing the mountains so I could continue skiing,” Alexander said. “I did it for the equivalent of 100 days. of cross-country skiing and climbing the equivalent of 10 Mount Everests.”
January 2022, inIn the Cape Verde National Ski Championships held in Liechtenstein, Alexander finished seventh in the men’s giant slalom. In just 22 months, Alexander reached the 160-point requirement of the International Snow Federation and won the title. qualified for the Beijing Winter Olympics. Even Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness congratulated him on becoming the first alpine skier in the history of Jamaica to participate in the Winter Olympics. “I think the important thing is to answer very well at the beginning. “My servant knows more about the Cai Huan family, but I have only heard of the Zhang family. “It’s difficult, 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 , Alexander does not plan to participate, but he will continue to ski after the trip to Beijing.
Alexander looksCome on, everyone has their own position. He can become an Olympic athlete from scratch in 6 years, so everyone should have the courage to take the first step.