Carlos Maeder is a pioneer and, without doubt, one of the African stars to watch at Beijing 2022.
Not only is the 43-year-old the oldest athlete taking part in alpine skiing, but he is also only the third ever Ghanaian to compete at the Olympic Winter Games.
He follows in the footsteps of fellow skier the ‘Snow Leopard’ Kwame Nkrumah-Acheampong who raced at Vancouver 2010, and Akwasi Frimpong, who qualified for the men’s skeleton event at PyeongChang 2018.
The latter misses out this time around due to COVID-19.
Overcoming hurdles
Maeder’s route to the Games has not been an easy one, as explained on his blogsite: “Since my mother was alone and could not feed me, she had to give me up for adoption.
“I was adopted by a Swiss family and grew up in the heart of Switzerland. Thanks to my Swiss parents, who maintained contact with my mother, I have remained in touch with Ghanaian culture all my life. I travel as much as possible to Cape Coast to visit my big family there.”
The former youth footballer started skiing when he was three years old, but only relaunched his skiing career in 2017 after a long break.
“I was better at football, but skiing was always a part of me. I wanted to qualify for PyeongChang but I didn’t know that the qualification window is two years, so I missed the first year,” Maeder told Olympics.com.
“Two years ago, I got an Olympic scholarship which was wonderful, but it’s not easy with the budget I have. I lost one year of qualification [due to COVID-19] and then I was injured and didn’t have enough time. I am a one-man show. I couldn’t [even] afford a coach.”
Making it count
As well as competing in the alpine skiing with the likes of Madagascar’s Mathieu Neumuller and Morocco’s Yassine Aouich, Maeder is Ghana’s sole representative and flagbearer at Beijing 2022.
He is not at the Games to solely enjoy the ride, though, as he told SRF: “I take the Olympics very seriously. Otherwise, I wouldn’t invest so much, travel around and do without a lot.
“Enjoyment is the priority. I always talk about the maximum deficit to the winner, who will hopefully be called Marco Odermatt,” Maeder adds, showing his connection with Switzerland where he grew up.
However, his impact will be more keenly felt in the country of his birth.
“It’s something very, very special as an African representing an African country in the winter sports,” he declared to Olympics.com.
“For me, there is more to sports than just winning. I want to set a good example and show young people in Switzerland and Ghana that you can do anything with the necessary will and effort – ain’t no mountain high enough!”