Mathilde-Amivi Petitjean is, unsurprisingly, Togo’s first Winter Olympian. But the cross-country skier hopes her debut in Sochi will inspire other African athletes to compete in winter sports.
“I think all the people in all (African) countries are happy for me,” said Petitjean, who turns 20 this week. “It’s good for African countries that they see it’s possible to participate in the Winter Olympic Games.”
Petitjean has lived most of her life in France, where she took up skiing as a pastime because she lived so close to the Alps and it was what most of her friends did. She had no designs on Olympic glory until the Togolese ski federation, surely a candidate for sport’s most overstaffed body, asked her whether she would be interested in representing the West African nation in Sochi.Ultimately, she crossed the line in the women’s 10-kilometre classical race last Thursday in 68th place, nearly 10 minutes behind winner Justyna Kowalczyk of Poland.
Togo’s first Winter Olympics team consists of Petitjean and Alpine skier Alessia Afi Dipol, who competed in the women’s giant slalom and slalom this week. Italian-born Dipol, however, has no family ties to Togo. The 18-year-old has become a naturalised citizen.
Mathilde-Amivi and Allesia may be West Africa’s only representatives this time around but others are awaiting their opportunity.
Seun Adebiyi is a Nigerian with a Yale law degree, and Wall Street experience who tried to qualify for Sochi in the Skeleton event. In the end, Seun was defeated by not only by funding shortages, but by stem cell leukemia/lymphoma and, finally, a torn Achilles tendon. Some things are just not meant to happen.
Adebiyi is a notable athlete. He broke Nigerian records in the 200 metre freestyle in swimming, but could not compete in the 2000 Olympics because of a slipped disk. This year, he was again done-in by health issues, but the story might have been different if from the beginning he had had the necessary funds to train competitively with the active support of a national Olympic committee.
This writer’s opinion, for what it’s worth, is the Skeleton seems to be an event for someone who enjoys more luck that Seun appears to.
