Ghana’s only participant at the ongoing Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, Akwasi Frimpong is already looking ahead after becoming the first West African to compete in the skeleton event at the Olympics.
The Netherlands based Ghanaian is in high spirits after appearing at the games and hopes to replicate a similar feat in 2022 saying it’s his ‘dream’ to do that.
Speaking to the BBC on the sidelines of his Winter Games experience, Akwasi Frimpong recounted the hard times he went through to get this far and hopes to do more.
Akwasi Frimpong (born on February 11, 1986) is a Dutch-Ghanaian sprinter, bobsledder, and skeleton athlete who has won 4 bronze, 4 silver, and 8 gold medals in various national and international sport events.
The athlete, who was raised in Ghana, moved to the Netherlands at the age of 8 and started running when he was 15. In 2003, he became the Dutch National Junior Champion in the 200 meter sprints, which earned him the nickname ‘Golden Sprint.’
Akwasi Frimpong is not the only Ghanaian at the games because Maame Biney, a 17-year-old from Ghana, is also the first African-American woman to represent the U.S. on the speed skating short track team at the Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea.
A record eight African nations are competing in South Korea with 12 athletes in action.
On Thursday, the first two heats in men’s skeleton starts at the Games. The following day will see the third heats for men and this will decide the world champions in the fourth and final heats.
