At 38°C, in the largest stadium in Abuja, nigeria's capital, Samuel Ekpefan, dressed in full ski gear, sweating profusely and with a cramped smile on his face, showed off his skiing skills somewhat comically in the plastic track.
The onlookers' eyes widened, and Nigerian officials dropped their jaws in shock, unable to believe what was happening in front of them. Ekpefan instantly exploded throughout Nigeria.
Previously, when Ikepefan passed through customs with ski equipment, the head of customs did not know whether to release the skis he saw for the first time. Every time Ikpefan recalls this experience, he still laughs involuntarily: "I had to do this in order to prove my ability to the Nigerian Ski Federation." ”
It's a snow-free country that welcomed its first cross-country skier. At the Beijing Winter Olympics, Yike Peifan, as the only athlete of the Nigerian delegation and the first snowshee athlete in Nigerian history, stood on the field of Zhangjiakou National Cross-Country SkiIng Center.
A long and difficult road to pursue your dreams
Ekpefan grew up in France, his mother is French, his father is from Nigeria, he started skiing at the age of 6, and has always dreamed of joining the French ski national team. After 14 years of hard work, the door of the French national team was officially closed to Icopefan in 2011, and he was heartbroken and briefly gave up skiing, which occupied almost all of his life, and spent three years healing. Ekpefan recalls: "In those three years, I did a lot of other things, I played football, I swam, I ran, I rode a bike, and before I got stronger, I had a good experience of life. ”
Three years of precipitation did not make Ikepefan depressed, and half of his Nigerian ancestry gave him the motivation to continue to pursue his dreams: "My mind told me in my mind that one day, I would represent Nigeria in the Olympic Games. "In 2018, Ekpefan got a nigerian visa, and then the scene that began the article occurred, and after being affirmed by the Nigerian Ski Federation, Ekpefan received the certificate of the International Ski Federation, and he is an official Nigerian skier. Seeing his father in Nigeria who had retired for many years, Ekpefan wept with joy.
It was also in this year that Ekpefan formed a family and had a lovely son. With a certificate, a family, in front of Ekpefan, in addition to saving enough points to participate in the Olympics, there are also financial problems, he found that the Nigerian ski federation has almost no budget, he also needs to support his son, for him to go to school, life, in order to be able to continue to compete, he can only launch online crowdfunding, and in addition to training to save money by doing odd jobs.
The Winter Olympic Dream of African Athletes
At this year's Beijing Winter Olympics, five African countries, Kenya, Nigeria, Madagascar, Morocco and Eritrea, participated, and only 15 African countries participated in the entire history of the Winter Olympics. On this hot continent, the limitations imposed by the natural climate are impossible to change by manpower, but this does not stop African athletes from dreaming of the Winter Olympics. In 1960, four figure skaters represented South Africa at the Winter Olympics, the first winter Olympic mark on the continent's map. Alpine skier Lamingheye of Senegal in 1984 was the first black athlete to compete in the Winter Olympics.
Before Ekpefan, the Nigerian delegation had achieved a breakthrough of zero for the Winter Olympics. At the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, moriam Severn Adigun, a female athlete with dual citizenship of the United States and Nigeria, and friends established Nigeria's first snow team, forming the first snowmobile team from an African country in the history of the Winter Olympics. At the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, Moriam also came to China, and as an accompanying officer of the Nigerian delegation, she assisted Ekpefan in the Winter Olympics.
About the future
Ekpefan, 30 years old this year, ended the Winter Olympics with cross-country skiing in 73rd place in the individual sprint and 15 kilometers of unfinished results. After the Beijing Winter Olympics, he has many personal goals to accomplish: to become the first African to participate in the World Tour in the next five years, to reach the top 50 to 60 in the world rankings, to participate in the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan...
But the most important thing for him is the future of ice and snow sports in Africa, and when it comes to this, Ekpefan's eyes lit up and he gushed: "I want to invest more and more money in my ski federation, ski training for young people in Nigeria, showing the charm of ice and snow sports to this hot country, I know, this will take a little time, but I really hope that more athletes from Nigeria and other countries in Africa can participate in ice and snow sports." 」 ”
In the snowless country "skiing", Ekpefan's dream has come true, and there are more African ice and snow athletes waiting to realize. Whether it is raising money to compete in the competition or practicing "dry skating" in the desert, African ice and snow athletes are definitely a force that cannot be ignored in the future.
Maybe one day, we can see them on the podium of the Winter Olympics.
(Beijing Olympic Organizing Committee official website)