The one-man Jamaican Winter Olympic team, Errol Kerr finished ninth in the men's ski cross earlier this week, which is an impressive accomplishment, considering a) he comes from a country that has never seen snow and b) trains sporadically in the U.S. on a shoe-string budget and without any government funding, and c) looks more like your typical laid-back, beer-chugging poker buddy than a high performance athlete. Which I find thrilling.
By Brian Hutchinson, National Post
VANCOUVER -- Errol Kerr, you are my latest hero.
The one-man Jamaican Winter Olympic team, Kerr finished ninth in the men's ski cross earlier this week, which is an impressive accomplishment, considering a) he comes from a country that has never seen snow and b) trains sporadically in the U.S. on a shoe-string budget and without any government funding, and c) looks more like your typical laid-back, beer-chugging poker buddy than a high performance athlete. Which I find thrilling.
On Thursday, Kerr dropped by the International Media Centre for unaccredited journalists (
a.k.a. Loserville). It's hidden underneath Robson Square. About five reporters waited for him inside an open-air press theatre. We were joined eventually by a grinning woman who took a front row centre seat. She wore Team Jamaica colours. It was Kerr's mother.
Kerr appeared. He wore a T-shirt, jeans and sneakers. And crazy, crazy hair. After a short introduction, delivered by a local man, a Mr. Brown --whose relationship to the guest of honour was never explained -- Kerr made a brief statement. "Words can't describe how I feel right now," he said. "Are there any questions?"
Long pause. Awkward. I went to the open microphone and inquired about the possibility of attracting more sponsors now that he is almost famous. Kerr sounded hopeful but uncertain.
What about the inevitable comparisons to the Jamaican bobsled team, the band of brothers that captured the world's attention 22 years ago in Calgary and inspired that film, "Cool Runnings," starring the late and great John Candy? Did he mind?
"There is a shock relation there," replied Kerr, a bit inscrutably. "I just want to take that trail and blaze it even further."
Then he swung into the spirit of things. He gave some heartfelt impressions of his experiences in Vancouver. He paid tribute to the people whom he'd met and gave thanks for their warm reception, and for the inspiration he had drawn from the crowds at Cypress Bowl, where he had just competed. "Never before in my life had I heard cheering like that during a run," Kerr said.
And at the end of that, applause. A bunch of onlookers stood at the edges of the press theatre. Perhaps a dozen men, women and children, all decked out in 2010 Olympics gear. They clapped and clapped. Were they devoted followers of Kerr? A segment of his fan club? Well, no. They were just folks passing through, on a press centre tour.
But they'd been lucky. They had witnessed something rare at these Games, away from the fields of play, something that had been missing: a spontaneous and humble moment.
Photo: Erol Kerr at the the International Media Centre. Brian Hutchinson/National Post
