TheOrator.Press Sport Port: Jamaica’s First Olympian Alpine Skier ~ January 2022

Cool Runnings For British Born Benjamin Alexander As He Becomes Jamaica’s First Ever Winter Olympian Alpine Skier.

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Athlete Explains That The Murder of George Floyd Provided Extra Inspiration & Motivation Further To The IOC’s Prior Diversity Declaration

Self-Motivation

Benjamin Was Born In Wellingborough, Northamptonshire, England, Where He Grew Up, Was Identified As A Gifted Child And Won A Scholarship To A Private School. He Subsequently Studied Engineerin’ At University And Worked In Finance In Hong Kong For A Brief While.

Whilst Workin’ In Asia He Rekindled His Love of DJ’ing And Turned This Hobby Into A Livin.’ This Included Securin’ A 10 Year Residency At The Burning Man Music Festival In Nevada, America And Also A DJ Residency In Ibiza Too. Through His DJ Work In 2016 He Was Introduced To Whistler, The Mountain Ski Restort In British Columbia. Canadian. He Was Soon Hooked By The Sight of The Skiers Flyin’ Down The Slopes “Almost Like Super Heros, Puttin On Their Skies And Just Disappearing”.

The Resort Is So Named After The Distinctive High Pitched Warnin’ Call of The Squirrel-Like Furry Animals That Inhabit The Area And Scurry Around At Ground Level. The Mormot. Not As Cute Lookin’ As Their Bushy-Tailed Rodent Relatives And Herbivores That Burrow Rather Than Leapin’ Through Trees, Their Rodent Appearance Is Immediately Disconcertin’. That Maybe Why They Have To Constantly Altert Each Other of Potential Danger Usin A High Pitched Whistilin’ Sound.

There Are Two Main Interconnected Mountainous Elements To The World Renowned Whistler Sports Resort. One Features The Winter Sports of Alpine Skiin’ And Snowboardin’ In Whistler. And The Other Features The Summer Sport of Mountain’ Bikin’ In Whistler Blackcomb. (Approximately Two Hours & 78 Miles North of Vancouver The Resort Was Deemed Sufficiently Near To Host The Ski Events At The Vancouver Winter Olympics 2010). Gondolas Are Most Famous For Bein’ Water Vessels Used For Travellin’ Around The Italian Floatin’ City of Venice. However In Whistler They Are Sky High Cable Lifts Which Allow Travel Between The Two Main Mountain Ranges That Make Up This High End Skiin’ Hub.

Havin’ Taken To The Magic of Winter Sports At Whistler, Despite His Sunny Jamaican Heritage, The Encouragement By The Winter Olympic Committee Towards A More Diverse Collection of Countries Competin’ In The Games, Access To Skiin’ Research Material Such As Data & Information on The International Ski Federation’s Website, Plus His Own Self-Motivation, All Combined To Inspire Him To Set A Goal of Qualifyin’ For The Beijing Winter Olympics And Representin’ Jamaica.

Mentors

History Has Shown That Some Gifted Children Struggle & Fade Into Adulthood Obscurity After Peaking Too Early In Their Youth And Fail To Shine The Same Way Into Adulthood But Not Benjamin Alexander.

He Is A Motivational Speaker And A Very Driven Man With A Gift For Building Networks. Amazingly He Has Never Had A Full Time Professional Coach On His Journey To The Winter Olympics But He Did Build Up A Network of Mentors & Supporters Including Dudley ‘Tal’ Stokes. Stokes Is A Foundin’ Member of The Jamaican Bobsleigh Team From The Winter Olympics 1988. The Effort, Spirit And Positivity of The Team Is Celebrated In The 1993 Disney Comedy Sports Movie Cool Runnings.

Former Europa Skier Gordan Gray Who Has Represented America Is Also Part of His Counsel. Gray Was Especially Impressed By Alexander’s Lack of Fear Because He Believes It Meant He Was Half Way To Achievin’ His Skiing Goals.

He Sought Advice As To Whether It Was Possible To Put An Olympic Project Together In The Short Time Frame From March 2020 To January 2022 (The Ultimate Chance To Qualify For The Next Winter Olympics). The Answer Was Affirmative.

So In March 2020 He Stepped Up The Practice of His New Found Sport To A Whole New Level And Decided To Invest In A Sporting Gamble. Hinself! He Dedicate His “Life”, All His “Savings” & His “Reputation” To Tryin’ To Qualify For His First Ever Winter Olympic Games. Speakin’ To Sky News On Saturday 15 2022 He Said Although He Has Skied Circa 450 Plus Days Since Then, It Would Have Been Over 700 Days If Covid Hadn’t Caused Various Competitons And Trainin’ Sessions To Be Cancelled.

The Older Previous Generation. And The Young Next Generation.

Despite These Disruptions He Has Managed To Remain Positive And Says He’s Simply Relieved That He’s Goin’ To Beijing Next Month Havin’ Formulated A Plan That He’s Managed To Pull Off. From His Perspective His Story Is Simply All About The Takin’ Part And Inspirin’ The Next Generation of Jamaican Children And More Diverse Countries To Take Part Too.

He Wants The Next Generation To Discover The Sport Before The Age of 32 Which Is The Age He Came To It Six Years Ago. But Yet He Still Also Believes Age Should Not Be A Barrier To Followin’ Your Passion And He Is Proof That Late Bloomers Can Thrive Too.

The Former High Finance Expert And International DJ Is Well Travelled. Talkin’ To Olympics.com He Explained, “I’ve Been To 67 Countries, I’ve Spent A Lot of My Life On The Road. I’ve Always Loved To Travel And A Big Part of My Previous Role As A Dj Was Getting Myself Out There Marketing Myself In The Right Way, Figuring Out Ways To Get Into Venues, Clubs And Festivals That I Wanted To Perform At. I Never Hired The Services Of A Manager Or An Agent As A DJ Because I Wanted To Do It My Own Way.”

Similarly Whilst He Is Keen To Learn, Analysis & Take Advice It Crucial To Him That He Operates On His Terms. And The Ambitious Thirty Eight Year Old Hopes To Become The President of The Jamaican Ski Federation After His Winter Olympic Challenge.

Although It Will Be His First Time Competin’ In The Winter Olympics It Will Not Be His First Time At The Games. After Fallin’ For The Sport In 2016 He Actually Travelled To South Korea To Watch The Pyeongchang Games In 2018. As Well As Watchin’ As A Dedicated Fan It Was Also A Good Opportunity For Him To Make Some Good Contacts And Build Up His Networks, Which He Did Very Effectively.

Now He Has A Trained Eye And Has Gleaned Powerful Insights He Reveals He Has Already Seen Talented Young Athletes Who Could Compete In The Next Winter Olympics (February 6 ~ 22nd 2026) And He Hopes His Takin’ Part Now Will Will Make It Easier For Them In The Future.

On The Shoulders of Giants

Click Link To Watch Video ~ https://olympics.com/en/video/benjamin-alexander-jamaica-alpine-skier-beijing-2022?uxreference=playlist

The Disney Comedy Movie Released Five Years Later In 1993 Is Loosely Based On The 1988 Jamaican Bobsleigh Team’s Story of Trying To Qualify for The Winter Olympic Games In Calgary Just Three Days Before The Event (Last Minute Dot Com Style). The Acting Cast Telling This Real Story Featured Big, Bold, Blonde, Comedy Actor The Late John Candy, As The Belligured Team Manager. And Doug E. Doug, Rawle D. Lewis, Leon, And Malik Yoba As The Dynamic, Dramatic And Desperate Teammates.

The Actual Jamaica Bobsleigh Team Members Were Devon Harris, Dudley ‘Tal’ Stokes, Nelson ‘Christian’ Stokes And Michael White. They Were All Novices Making Their Bobsleigh Debut. They Were Challenged And Tested But They Were Determined. And They Remained Focused Right Until The Finish Line. Such Was The Drama of Their Story That It Made Them National And International Icons. Dudley ‘Tal’Stokes And Devon Harris Have Become Motivational Speakers And Mentors (With Dudley ‘Tal’ Stokes Working With Benjamin). Nelson “Christian ” Stokes Became president of the Jamaican Bobsleigh Team Federation (JBSF). And Michael White Opted For A Quiet Life And Kept A Relatively Low Profile Compared To His Other Teammates.

Even Though Benjamin Become An Alpine Skier And Not Actually A Member of The Bobsleigh Team, The Movie Is A Cultural Classic For Him And His Friends And It Is But It Is The Ultimate Principle Portrayed In The Movie That Is Important To Them.

The Message In The Cool Runnings Movie Is Teamwork, Perseverance And Redeemption And He Says He Owes The Film And Those Who Made It A Debt of Gratitude As He May Well Not Have Made It To Where He Is But For The Film. He Says He Is Standin’ On The Shoulders of Giants And He Wants His Ski Kit To Have A Design Similar To The Original Bobsleigh Guys.

Those In The Know Who Have Competed In The Global Competition Before Report That The Biggest Cheers At The Winter Olympics Are Firstly For The Host Nation And Then Secondly For The Jamaican Team. This Is Doubtedly A Result of The Legacy of The Movie And The 88 Jamaican Team Makin’ History For The Way The Team Came About And The Way They Went Out.

Havin’ Achieved His Goal of Qualifyin’ To Participate In The Games And Represent Jamaica, On Tuesday 12 January 2022, By Achievin Seventh In The Leichtenstein International Ski Championships, It Is No Wonder Benjamin Says His Overriddin’ Feeling Is “Relief”. Compare For Instance That Outcome To The Position Novak Djokovic Finds Himself In Havin’ Tried To Meet The Requirements To Play In The Australian Open (Regardin’ The International Debacle Over The Tennis Player’s Visa Requirements, Covid Exemptions And Application Form Corrections). Benjamin Is Also Scheduled To Be A Flag Bearer At The Opening Ceremony Along With The Jamaica Ski Team Teammate Jazmine Fenlator-Victorian. Fellow Teammate Rolando Reid Is A Flag Bearer For The Closing Ceremony.

The Biggest Contingency of Jamaican Athletes Ever

It Was Dudley ‘Tal’ Stokes Who Founded The Team As An Established Air Force Pilot Trained By Sandhurst Military Academy And Commissioned To Put Together A Team By A Colonel Barnes (Father of The Famous Footballer John). ‘Why’ That Official Request Was Ever Made In The First Place Is Not Currently Clear. But Ultimately From Disqualification On It Debute Outing In 1988 To Taking Part In Three More Olympics (1992, 1994 And 1998) And Mentoring New Team Members Up To The Current Day (Such As Benjamin Alexander With Alpine Skiing And ShanWayne of The Latest Bobsleigh Team – Who Is Also A Royal Airforce Professional).

Speaking’ To Sky News Stokes Stated That This Year Jamaica Will Be Sendin’ Its Biggest Ever Contingent of Winter Olympic Athletic Competitors, Includin’ Two Men’s Teams, Two Women’s Team And Benjamin Alexander. Together They Come Under The Umbrella of The Jamaica Ski Team.

He Says of His 88′ Team Being The First Ever To Compete In The Winter Olymics “It Was An Extremely Ambitious Undertakin’ To Go From Never Havin’ Been On The Ice To Enterin’ The Olympics Within Five Months. And It Did Not End Well.” However It Is This Experience And The Journeys He And The Subsequent Jamaican Teams Took Since That Has Seen Him Well Placed To Become A Motivational Speaker And Mentor.

The Winter Olympics Will Take Place Over Two Weeks And Two Days And Runs From Friday February 4th 2022 To Sunday February 20th 2022. Benjamin’s Event, Alpine Skiing, Kicks off The Competition In Week One.

Schedule of The Winter Olympics 2022

The Openin’ Ceremony Is Friday February 4th 2022 & The Closing Ceremony Is Sunday 20th 2022

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