"Except for the determination -- and, frankly, a marketing miracle -- Kwame Nkrumah-Acheampong, Ghana wouldn't be [here]. Kwame would rather be known by his own name rather than called the Snow Leopard, but the gimmick helped him get here. He learned to ski only six years ago on an indoor 'hill' in Milton Keynes, England.

He learned to race by being a copycat, patterning the better European skiers. And he's tried to encourage other Ghanaians to take up the sport by doing grass skiing.

Kwame doesn't mind comparisons to the Jamaican bobsledders. But he resents being linked to Eddie (the Eagle) Edwards, Britain's first Olympic ski jumper in 1988.

Kwame says Edwards made a joke out of the competition and has used his few moments of fame to earn a living. Kwame is a serious athlete, who, given a choice, would rather be training than holding press conferences, begging and borrowing equipment and relying on the generosity of strangers in places such as Pemberton and Mount Washington to give him food, lodging, vehicles and free lift passes so he can train."

"Born in Glasgow but raised in the snow-free country of Ghana in West Africa, Nkrumah-Acheampong moved back to Britain in his 20s, and at that point had never put on a pair of skis.

Now if that was you, would you choose to be an international ski racer? 99.9% of the universe would just have a bit of a go and then probably use skiiing as a gentle leisure activity. Not Kwame.

He practised and practised until he was good enough to think about taking it up as a sport professionally and now, a few years later, he's at the Olympics competing in the slalom ...

 
He's not exactly going to break any records, and he's more than likely going to finish in the bottom one or two, but he is here. His ambition for the race is just not to come last." 

"Your tenacity of purpose and determination to make a name for yourself and Mother Ghana in a sport quite unfamiliar and so out of reach of the imagination of your compatriots is very much in line with the dedication of our forebears who in their own special ways have contributed to making a name for Ghana through their various exploits,'' it says.