ETHIOPIA: WINTER OLYMPICS - Ethiopia's only proffesional skier warms up for winter Olympics

Record ID: 330358

  • Title: ETHIOPIA: WINTER OLYMPICS - Ethiopia's only proffesional skier warms up for winter Olympics
  • Date: 6th February 2010
  • Summary: ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA (FEBRUARY 3, 2010) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF ETHIOPIAN SKIER, ROBEL TEKLEMARIAM PUTTING ON ROLLER SKIING GEAR VARIOUS OF TEKLEMARIAM AND HIS SISTER VARIOUS OF TEKLEMARIAM ROLLER SKIING (SOUNDBITE) (English) ETHIOPIAN SKIER, ROBEL TEKLEMARIAM SAYING: "Before that I had actually tried to figure out a way to get to the Olympics but it seemed like such a
  • Embargoed: 21st February 2010 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Ethiopia
  • Country: Ethiopia
  • Topics: Sports
  • Reuters ID: LVAB9LKBDX4O1BDBGM7P1GL7RENJ
  • Story Text: Robel Teklemariam, Ethiopia's first and only professional skier wheels down a suburban Addis Ababa street on his roller skies, expertly weaving around hooting cars and drawing stares from locals more used to watching runners train.
    Teklemariam went to the Torino 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.
    But getting into the professional skiing circuits was not easy. Teklemariam at first only toyed with the idea of going for the Olympics after a friend in school joked about when he was just 13. Then, he saw a skier from Kenya at the Nagano Olympics in Japan and decided to take it seriously. 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, and found sponsorship.
    "Before that I had actually tried to figure out a way to get to the Olympics but it seemed like such an uphill battle because nobody was giving me the right information and everybody I was asking didn't even know what I had to do, they were like, you need an Ethiopian Ski team and I was like well there is no Ethiopian ski team and I was like, I am Ethiopian, I have an Ethiopian passport, cant I just go and race? And it took my a while to figure it out and I thought it was going to be impossible until I saw the Kenyans racing at the Nagano Olympics and I am like well they managed to get in there so for sure there has got to be a way," he says.
    Teklemariam 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.
    His interest in skiing started when he was an eight-year old. Teklemariam'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.
    He says he had major culture shock and skiing was a very big part of the life and culture at his new school so he took it up to fit in.
    The child from the country famous for producing world-beating runners like Haile Gebrselassie and Kenenisa Bekele soon found he had talent on the snow.
    The 35-year-old moved back to Ethiopia four years ago and while in Ethiopia, Teklemariam still has to train, even without snow.
    With some duct tape and a little ingenuity, he managed to rig some roller skis to serve as his training gear. He admits that blazing down the street six times a week with no brakes is dangerous but its worth while. He even gets spectators sometimes who are starting to pick up on what he's doing.
    "To be honest, nothing strange I will tell you this, I was here training a little over a week ago.. I was training right here. A security guard from one of the houses here came out and said isn't that better to do on snow, why don't you just go on snow and do that, why are you doing that here. So that was bizarre because he knew exactly what I was doing, and it was for the sport of skiing so that actually surprised me," said Teklemariam.
    Teklemariam works as a ski instructor around the world but he knew he had to find a place to train at home, even if it is sometimes not "ideal".
    "Roller skiing this close to the Olympics is not the most ideal thing, obviously its much better to be on snow. The one thing and good thing is that here in Ethiopia, I am at 2700 meters so it's at least a little that's a good side in some ways because it helps give you better endurance but roller skiing is not ideal. But at the moment is it a disadvantage yes and no. There are certain advantages I have because I am here but its still a disadvantage. It is still 10 times better to be on snow," said Teklemariam.
    Among some of his fans is former 10,000 metres world and olympic champion Haile Gebreselassie, who he first met at the airport in Addis Ababa over a year ago.
    "I ran into him and I was like. I went up to him, I was like, you know what.. you are a legend and its an honour to meet you, and he commented back to me, saying you know what, I remember you. You were skiing in Torino right? Before he left, as we parted he said some day bring us back the gold. To me I was like would that be a dream and a half it would be unbelievable," said Teklemariam.
    "If I am closer to the winner than I was in the last Olympics, I will be a very happy camper. That is really my personal goal - to do better in the race than I did in the Torino Olympics. But my other goal which is really now my real goal; and I am doing this with the help of my brother and a few different sponsors who are helping us out as well, is to get Ethiopians involved in skiing and for Ethiopia to be a permanent member of the winter Olympics, whether it's in skiing or any other sport. I don't want to be -- and I have said this in the past, I don't want to be the first and the last," said Teklemariam.
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