Kwame Nkrumah-Acheampong (born 19 December 1974), nicknamed "The Snow Leopard", is a Ghanaian skier and is the first person from Ghana to take part in the Winter Olympics, which he did at the

2010 Winter Olympics )'' , nations = 82 , athletes = 2,626 , events = 86 in 7 sports (15 disciplines) , opening = February 12, 2010 , closing = February 28, 2010 , opened_by = Governor General Michaëlle Jean , cauldron = Catriona Le May DoanNancy GreeneWayne Gretz ...

Vancouver, British Columbia taking part in the

slalom To slalom is to zigzag between obstacles. It may refer to: Sports ;Alpine skiing and/or snowboarding * Slalom skiing, an alpine skiing and alpine snowboarding discipline * Giant slalom, an alpine skiing and alpine snowboarding discipline * Super-G ...

. He finished 53rd out of 102 participants, of whom 54 finished.

Early life

Nkrumah-Acheampong was born on 19 December 1974 in Glasgow, Scotland. He moved to

Milton Keynes Milton Keynes ( ) is a city and the largest settlement in Buckinghamshire, England, about north-west of London. At the 2021 Census, the population of its urban area was over . The River Great Ouse forms its northern boundary; a tributary ...

where he has resided since. He first learnt to ski at the city's artificial slope during working as an employee there.

Skiing Career

Preparation

At the Ski Show in 2004 Nkrumah-Acheampong and his coach met Fergie Miller, the director of adventure training specialists ''Base Camp Group''. Miller had approached them, thoroughly intrigued by their Ghana Ski Team jackets. After hearing of their extraordinary ambitions of competing in the Olympic Games, Miller decided to help in any way he could. Base Camp sent Nkrumah-Acheampong out to Méribel on one of their courses, a trip which would be his first steps on real snow. Nkrumah-Acheampong was somewhat anxious at the sheer scale of the slopes and mountains but after a few runs he was more than confident and he progressed in leaps and bounds. During the following season, Nkrumah-Acheampong trained with French coaches, and ex-French ski team members, Pascal Blanc and Didier Schmidt, training predominantly in the

Giant Slalom Giant slalom (GS) is an alpine skiing and alpine snowboarding discipline. It involves skiing between sets of poles ("gates") spaced at a greater distance from each other than in slalom but less than in Super-G. Giant slalom and slalom make up t ...

event on the Stade de Slalom, Méribel. He later became a slalom skier also, recording his best results in the discipline, where speed and agility are of paramount importance.

Qualification

In 2005, Nkrumah-Acheampong attempted to qualify for the

2006 Winter Olympics The 2006 Winter Olympics, officially the XX Olympic Winter Games ( it, XX Giochi olimpici invernali) and also known as Torino 2006, were a winter multi-sport event held from 10 to 26 February 2006 in Turin, Italy. This marked the second t ...

in Turin, Italy. However, he failed to arrive at the qualifying stages being held in Iran because his flight was grounded in Amsterdam, Netherlands because of icing on its wings. In 2009, Nkrumah-Acheampong qualified for the 2010 Winter Olympics of 2010, scoring 137.5

International Ski Federation The ''Fédération internationale de ski et de snowboard'' (FIS; en, International Ski and Snowboard Federation) is the highest international governing body for skiing and snowboarding. Founded on 2 February 1924 in Chamonix, France during the ...

points, within the qualifying range of 120 to 140 points. He took part in the men's slalom where he finished 53rd out of 102 competitors, 54 of whom finished the race.

Charity and development work

Nkrumah-Acheampong is supporting projects to promote winter sports in Ghana. He set up the Ghanaian Winter Olympic Association, and he has gotten government backing to build Ghana's first artificial ski slope, which he plans to build in the Akuapem Hills of Mamfe. This slope was planned to be finished in time for the

2014 Winter Olympics , ''Zharkie. Zimnie. Tvoi'') , nations = 88 , events = 98 in 7 sports (15 disciplines) , athletes = 2,873 , opening = 7 February 2014 , closing = 23 February 2014 , opened_by = President Vladimir Putin , cauldron = , stadium = Fisht Olympic ...

. Nkrumah-Acheampong also supports a range of charities, including Sabre, a British charity working in Ghana which builds schools in deprived areas. He also donates any spare sponsorship money to a charity helping to save the snow leopard from extinction.

In popular culture

Canadian musician

Ashley MacIsaac Ashley Dwayne MacIsaac (born February 24, 1975) is a Canadian fiddler, singer and songwriter from Cape Breton Island. He has received three Juno Awards, winning for Best New Solo Artist and Best Roots & Traditional Album – Solo at the Juno A ...

also wrote a charity single, "Dreams", to benefit Nkrumah-Acheampong and his charitable efforts."Ghana's Snow Leopard records Olympic dream song with Canadian fiddler MacIsaac".

Canadian Press The Canadian Press (CP; french: La Presse canadienne, ) is a Canadian national news agency headquartered in Toronto, Ontario. Established in 1917 as a vehicle for the time's Canadian newspapers to exchange news and information, The Canadian Pre ...

, 19 February 2010. In addition to the Canadian musicians Matthew Harder of the band House of Doc and Geoffrey Kelly,

Vince Ditrich Vince Richard Ditrich (born April 4, 1963) is a Canadian rock musician, best known as the drummer and manager of the band Spirit of the West. Ditrich is also the author of two novels featuring fictional musician Tony Vicar (''The Liquor Vicar'' a ...

and

Tobin Frank Tobin Frank is a Canadian musician, who records, performs and tours with the bands Spirit of the West and The Paperboys. Primarily a bass guitarist, Frank also plays some accordion and keyboard parts. Frank joined Spirit of the West as a tempo ...

of the band Spirit of the West, Nkrumah-Acheampong himself took part in the recording by playing traditional Ghanaian percussion instruments. The single, credited to The Parallel Band, was released to

iTunes iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mul ...

on 19 February 2010. Nkrumah-Acheampong can also be seen in Season 9 Episode 11 of the hit

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...

show Airline.

Personal life

Nkrumah-Acheampong is married to his wife Sena. She works as a secretary at the Open University in Milton Keynes. They have two children, daughter Ellice and son Jason. He is not related to the former President of Ghana

Kwame Nkrumah Kwame Nkrumah (born 21 September 190927 April 1972) was a Ghanaian politician, political theorist, and revolutionary. He was the first Prime Minister and President of Ghana, having led the Gold Coast to independence from Britain in 1957. An in ...

(1909–72). Nkrumah-Acheampong practised at the

Mount Washington Alpine Resort Mount Washington Alpine Resort is a year-round recreation destination located on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. Adjacent to Strathcona Provincial Park, BC's oldest provincial park, Mt. Washington is the Island’s only full-service ...

on Vancouver Island for the

from 31 January to 9 February in Vancouver, British Columbia.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Nkrumah-Acheampong, Kwame 1974 births Living people British sportspeople of Ghanaian descent Scottish people of Ghanaian descent Citizens of Ghana through descent Ghanaian male alpine skiers Scottish male alpine skiers Olympic alpine skiers of Ghana Alpine skiers at the 2010 Winter Olympics Sportspeople from Glasgow