Sometimes finishing last is as good as gold
KRASNAYA POLYANA, Russia
For Nepalese cross-country skier Dachhiri Sherpa — who finished 92nd and 94th in his previous two Olympic Winter Games races — there is clearly plenty of room for improvement.
Yet whatever the Himalayan bricklayer’s result in the 15-km classic in Sochi on Feb. 14, he will remain a hero to the minority of Nepalis aware of his existence.
“I have taken four months off work and skied every single day since December to train for this event, but I’m not perfect,” he told reporters here in the mountains near Sochi.
“I think there is a very big chance I will finish last. But the placing is not important if I can teach young people in Nepal about the Olympic spirit. This spirit is in my heart.”
Sherpa is the lone athlete competing for Nepal in Sochi, but his situation isn’t all that unusual.
There are 16 other countries in Sochi represented by just one athlete: Bermuda, Cayman Islands, Hong Kong, Krygyzstan, Luxembourg, Malta, Mexico, Pakistan, Paraguay, Philippines, Tajikistan, Tongo, Venezuela, the Virgin Islands — both U.S. and British — and Zimbabwe.
Yes, Zimbabwe, which is among seven nations taking part in the Winter Olympics for the first time.
There are another 27 countries with five or fewer athletes in Sochi, among them summer nations like Jamaica, which made its debut at the Winter Olympics in Calgary in 1998, when a team of sprinters entered the four-man bobsled competition.
This year, Jamaica’s three Olympians will compete in the two-man competition, led by 46-year-old Winston Watts, who will be competing in his fourth Olympic Games.
Aussie and new Canuck bobsledder Chris Spring applauded the Jamaicans and other athletes from non-traditional winter nations.
“I think it’s awesome the Jamaicans are here,” he said. “But as a former small-nation bobsledder, it’s very tough for the small nations to compete out there financially, logistically and I don’t think it was any different for the Jamaicans this year as well.
“I think they had a tough year, chipping their sleds around and sleeping probably on floors, cramming more people into a car than there are seatbelts, just to get around. They’ve done it tough to get here, just like all the other small nations, and they should be very proud to rep their country, and it definitely highlights our sport to have them here.”
While some athletes are competing for small countries courtesy of dual citizenship — like Paraguayan slopestyler Julia Marino, who was raised in the U.S. but was unable to qualify for the U.S. freestyle skiing team, and B.C.’s Sean Greenwood, who will compete in skeleton as part of Ireland’s five-member team — others have battled the odds from within their own countries.
Michael Christian Martinez is the first Filipino to compete at an Olympic Games since Albertville in 1992 — and the first to compete in figure skating. He learned how to skate in a shopping mall.
“I started skating in 2005 when I was nine years old. We were in a shopping mall and I saw other skaters jumping and spinning. I wanted to try it,” said the 17-year-old, who is also the youngest figure skater in the men’s event.
“When I stepped on the ice, I fell right away. But then I got up and started stroking around the rink,” he said. “I loved the sport.”
Short track speedskater Pan To Barton Lui — who will become the first and only man to compete for Hong Kong — took up the sport after watching the 2010 Games. Despite the wishes of his parents, he convinced them to let him quit school, move away from home and start training. He calls himself a “one-man army.”
Indian luger Shiva Keshavan somehow managed to make it to the Olympics, despite the fact his country lacks a luge track. The 32-yearold often trains with a sled on wheels, forced to dodge goats and trucks while shooting down steep Himalayan roads.
At Turin in 2006, Sherpa became the second Nepalese to compete at an Olympic Winter Games. He raced again in 2010. Now he is seeking a successor. “At 44, this will be my last Olympics. I need to find the next young talent. The problem is that most people in Nepal can’t watch international TV, so very few people will see the race. Plus, there is no place to ski in Nepal.”
— Bev Wake, Christie Blatchford and Olympic News Service