Kwame Nkrumah-Acheampong
| Kwame Nkrumah-Acheampong | |
|---|---|
| Personal information | |
| Born | December 19, 1974 Glasgow, Scotland |
| Height | 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) |
| Updated on 12 February 2010. | |
Kwame Nkrumah-Acheampong (born 19 December 1974)[1] nicknamed "The Snow Leopard", is a Ghanaian skiier and is the first person from Ghana to take part in the Winter Olympics, at the 2010 Games held in Vancouver, Canada,[2] taking part in the slalom.[1] He finished 53rd out of 102 participants of whom 54 finished.[3]
Contents |
[edit] Early life
Nkrumah-Acheampong was born in Glasgow, Scotland, where his father was working towards a doctorate.[2] As a child, he moved away from Glasgow to Ghana, to a town an hour away from Accra, the capital. He became a safari guide and later moved to England in 2000.[4][5] In 2002, he took a job as a receptionist at the Xscape skiing centre in Milton Keynes, where he began to practice skiing.[2][4]
[edit] Career
At the Ski Show in 2004 Kwame and his coach met Fergie Miller, Director of Adventure Training specialists [Base Camp Group]. He had apprached them, thoroughly intrigued by their Ghana Ski Team Jackets. After hearing of their extraordinary ambitions of competing in the Olympic Games, Fergie decided to help in any way he could. Base Camp sent Kwame out to Meribel on one of their courses, a trip which would be Kwames first steps on real snow. Kwame was somewhat anxious at the sheer scale of the slopes and mountains but after a few runs he was more than confident and he progressed in leaps and bounds.
In 2005, Nkrumah-Acheampong attempted to qualify for the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy. However, he failed to arrive at the qualifying stages being held in Iran because his flight was grounded in Amsterdam in the Netherlands because of ice on the wings.[4] In 2009, he successfully managed to qualify for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, scoring 137.5 International Ski Federation points, within the qualifying range of 120-140 points.[2][6] Nkrumah-Acheampong took part in the men's slalom where he finished 53rd out of 102 competitors, 54 of whom finished.[3]
Nkrumah-Acheampong is supporting projects to promote winter sports in Ghana. He set up the Ghanaian Winter Olympic Association,[6] and has secured government backing to build Ghana's first artificial ski slope, which is planned to be built in the Akuapem Hills, Mamfe, and are planned to be finished in time for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. Nkrumah-Acheampong is also supporting a range of charities, including Sabre, a British charity working in Ghana which builds schools in deprived areas.[2] He also donates any spare sponsorship money to a charity helping to save the snow leopard from extinction.[4]
Canadian musician Ashley MacIsaac also wrote a charity single, "Dreams", to benefit Nkrumah-Acheampong and his charitable efforts.[7] In addition to Canadian musicians Matthew Harder of the band House of Doc and Geoffrey Kelly, Vince Ditrich and Tobin Frank of the band Spirit of the West, Nkrumah-Acheampong himself participated in the recording, playing traditional Ghanaian percussion.[7] The single, credited to The Parallel Band, was released to iTunes on February 19, 2010.[7]
[edit] Personal life
Nkrumah-Acheampong is married to his wife Sena, who works as a secretary at the Open University in Milton Keynes. They have two children, daughter Ellice and son Jason.[4] He is not related to the former Ghanaian president Kwame Nkrumah.
Kwame Nkrumah-Acheampong trained at the Mount Washington Alpine Resort on Vancouver Island for the 2010 Winter Olympics from Jan 31 to Feb 9th in Vancouver, British Columbia.[8]
[edit] See also
- Ghana at the 2010 Winter Olympics
- Tropical nations at the Winter Olympics
- Jamaica national bobsled team
- Eric "The Eel" Moussambani
- Eddie "The Eagle" Edwards
[edit] References
- ^ a b "Kwame Nkrumah-Acheampong, Alpine Skiing". Vancouver, 2010. http://www.vancouver2010.com/olympic-alpine-skiing/athletes/kwame-nkrumah-acheampong_ath1076551ZG.html. Retrieved 12 February 2010.
- ^ a b c d e Dutta, Kunal (22 October 2009). "Forget Eric the Eel... meet the Snow Leopard". The Independent. http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/olympics/forget-eric-the-eel-meet-the-snow-leopard-1806888.html. Retrieved 22 October 2009.
- ^ a b "Men's Slalom". Vancouver, 2010. http://www.vancouver2010.com/olympic-alpine-skiing/schedule-and-results/mens-slalom-1st-run_asm020101Je.html. Retrieved 28 February 2010.
- ^ a b c d e O'Connor, Ashling (13 March 2009). "Kwame Nkrumah-Acheampong set to be first Ghanaian to compete in Winter Olympics". The Times. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/olympics/article5898172.ece. Retrieved 22 October 2009.
- ^ Agboola, Tope (7 October 2005). "Ghana's snow leopard skis for glory". BBC. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/4313548.stm. Retrieved 22 October 2009.
- ^ a b "Base Camp Sponsored Ghanaian skier Kwame Nkrumah-Acheampong has qualified for 2010 Olympics". 0-21 Snowboarding. 13 March 2009. http://www.0-21.co.uk/index.php/200903133581/News/Rider/Base-Camp-Sponsored-Ghanaian-skier-Kwame-NkrumahAcheampong-has-qualified-for-2010-Olympics.html. Retrieved 22 October 2009.
- ^ a b c "Ghana's Snow Leopard records Olympic dream song with Canadian fiddler MacIsaac". Canadian Press, February 19, 2010.
- ^ Dunbar, Graham (28 January 2010). "Ghana's skiing Snow Leopard prepares for Olympics". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. http://www.seattlepi.com/olympics/2090ap_oly_ski_ghanas_snow_leopard.html. Retrieved 2 February 2010.[dead link]
[edit] External links
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Kwame Nkrumah-Acheampong |
