"You're on a cookie sheet sled and it's like 'dude, good luck.'"
"When I was 15, I was recruited in track and field by a coach who was a two-time summer Olympian. He really believed that one day I could become an Olympian [in sprinting]. And because he believed in me, I started believing in myself and worked hard toward that dream of going to the Summer Olympics. I got as far as being part of the Netherlands pre-Olympic 4x100 meter relay team for the 2012 London Olympic Games, but due to a tendon injury, I wasn't able to make it to the final team. After that, I was recruited by the Netherlands bobsled team because of my speed as a sprinter, to become a brakeman the guy who makes sure that at the end he breaks so nobody dies."
Akwasi Frimpong was born in Ghana and moved to the Netherlands at age eight as an undocumented immigrant, later obtaining Dutch citizenship. He began in track and field, reached the Netherlands pre-Olympic 4x100m relay pool for 2012, and suffered a tendon injury that prevented final selection. Speed from sprinting led to recruitment into bobsled as a brakeman, then a switch to skeleton. In 2018 he became the first male Black African skeleton racer at the Olympics. He founded Hope of a Billion and has spoken about challenges faced by African athletes in a predominantly white winter sport.
Read at www.npr.org
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