The 43-year-old, who happens to be the oldest athlete competing in alpine skiing, is also only the third skier from Ghanaian to compete in the Winter Olympics.
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Carlos Maeder: 'It means a lot to raise the flag for Ghana as a winter sport nation'
Carlos Maeder is a trailblazer and unquestionably one of the African talents to watch in Beijing in 2022.
Carlos Maeder
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He follows fellow skiers Kwame Nkrumah-Acheampong, known as the "Snow Leopard," who competed in Vancouver 2010, and Akwasi Frimpong, who competed in the men's skeleton event in PyeongChang 2018.
“It means a lot to raise the flag for Ghana as a winter sport nation,” he said. He is well aware that they have little chance of earning a medal, but what matters is the fact that he can compete with the best in the big stage. The events in Beijing will be available for betting on the Betway platform online.
Maeder's journey to the games has not been without challenges, according to his blog:
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“Since my mother was alone and could not feed me, she had to give me up for adoption.
“I was adopted by a Swiss family and grew up in the heart of Switzerland. Thanks to my Swiss parents, who maintained contact with my mother, I have remained in touch with Ghanaian culture all my life. I travel as much as possible to Cape Coast to visit my big family there.”
Carlos Maeder
Pulse Ghana
The former footballer began skiing when he was three years old, but it was only in 2017 that he resumed his skiing career after a long hiatus.
“I was better at football, but skiing was always a part of me. I wanted to qualify for PyeongChang but I didn't know that the qualification window is two years, so I missed the first year," Maeder revealed.
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Mr. Maeder, who is seeded 2,443rd worldwide in giant slalom, qualified for the Olympics partly due to changes effected in the qualifying requirements aimed at producing a more varied range of athletes.
Ghanaian fans have a chance to wager on sports events taking place across the globe on Betway.
Aware that athletes from affluent, colder nations have dominated skiing for years, the International Olympic Committee (IOC), and skiing's international top body have attempted to make the sport more open by implementing a quota system that lowers the qualification standard.
However, those changes have added a sour note to what was to be a well-intentioned diversity initiative. It has sparked questions about whether the skiers attempted to rig a system designed to offer them the greatest possible chance of qualifying and whether the Olympics can be both an elite competition and a worldwide sports festival.
According to critics, there have been allegations of rigging by skiers during three events that were planned during the closing weeks of the Olympic qualification cycle. The International Ski Federation said it was looking at the results of the races, which took place in December and January, and that anyone who violated the rules might face penalties.
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The federation did not disclose which races it was looking into, despite there being only four held during that time period. It also requested that the IOC change its quota system to accommodate more qualified competitive skiers. This year, Austria got two more berths, with France and Germany getting one each.
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